9 March 2012 Canadian doctors have detailed the case of a boy
who swallowed 5 ball magnets. The 3-year-old had no symptoms,
but an X-ray revealed a "string-like formation" of magnetic
balls in his stomach. " ... ingestion of multiple magnetic beads
can lead to severe harm," the authors said. "This is in contrast
with other foreign bodies - including sharp objects or disk
batteries - which pass through the intestine in the majority of
cases spontaneously without complications." The boy's magnets
were retrieved via an emergency endoscopic procedure, and
without complication, before they could enter his small
intestine. Magnets can cause problems if they make their way on
to opposite sides of bodily tissue such as betweeen mucosal
folds of the stomach or loops of bowel. The attractive forces
can block or perforate the gut, the doctors warn. Among 128
cases of multiple magnet ingestion resulting in harm worldwide,
there was one fatality, researchers said. Last Reviewed: 09
March 2012