Small bowel fistula caused by ingested magnetic beads

Abstract

Foreign body(FB) ingestion poses a serious challenge to children from the age of 6 months to 3 years worldwide. Most of the Foreign Bodies will spontaneously pass through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) without any serious consequences, however, a subset of the FB ingestion may cause serious life-threatening complications. Amongst the Foreign Bodies that may serious systemic issues are the button battery, long sharp objects, magnetic beads, and sharp bones. Serial abdominal x-rays and conservative management of a patient who swallowed multiple magnetic beads are not advisable because of the strong attraction from magnets that can cause entrapping of the bowel with subsequent necrosis and a bowel perforation.We present a case of unwitnessed ingestion of magnetic beads with small bowel perforation.

Keywords

• Magnetic beads
• Foreign body ingestion (FB)
• Small bowel fistula