Accidental ingestion of magnets in children. Report of three cases Ingestión accidental de imanes en niños y sus complicaciones: Un riesgo creciente

Accidental ingestion of foreign bodies in childhood is an increasing problem. Although many of them can be treated with an expectant approach, allowing their passage through the gastrointestinal tract, magnets must be extracted, due to their high rate of complications, such as perforation. We report three patients that ingested magnets. A five year-old male was operated with an extensive ulceration of the jejunum, where a cylindrical magnet was extracted. A four year-old female was operated with a perforation of the anterior wall of the stomach and three magnets were extracted from the peritoneal cavity. A four year-old female, was transferred from a hospital where she had been operated for a magnet ingestion that provoked three perforations in the small bowel. © 2006 Sociedad Médica de Santiago