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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Handheld Metal Detector Screening for Metallic Foreign Body Ingestion in Children
Published on: September 11, 2018
[Ingested lead cartridges cause trouble]
Liv Bygdnes1, Odd Kildahl-Andersen, Janna Berg
1Medisinsk avdeling, Hålogalandsykehuset Harstad, 9480 Harstad. livbygdn@online.no
Background:
Lead poisoning is rare. Intake of lead shots may cause damage of the bone marrow, the nervous system, the liver, the kidneys and the endocrine organs.
Materials And Methods:
We present two patients who had taken approximately 120 grams of lead shots. They developed asthenia, nausea and abdominal pain. We tried to remove the lead shots with fluids, laxatives and colonoscopy, but ultimately surgical intervention had to be performed. The patients were also treated with dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA).
Results And Interpretation:
Although DMSA treatment is associated with a significant decrease in blood lead concentration and an increase of lead urinary excretion, surgical intervention is the most efficient way of treating oral intake of lead. Treatment with DMSA will probably have to go on for months in order to give an additional effect.
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