Hidden attraction: a menacing meal of magnets and batteries

Magnet and button battery ingestions are increasingly common, and can result in significant morbidity. Timely identification of hazardous foreign body ingestions can be difficult in non-verbal and non-disclosing children.

We aim to present a case that demonstrates some of the challenges around identifying and correctly locating magnets and batteries, and the importance of prompt identification and removal.

We describe an older child with the covert ingestion of multiple magnets and batteries, with magnets that attracted across the stomach and a loop of jejunum. Mild symptoms and signs resulted in a delayed diagnosis and serious consequences. Radiographs suggested a gastric location of the foreign bodies.

Health care workers should consider the possibility of battery or magnet ingestions in children with vomiting and abdominal pain, even when well-appearing. Like esophageal batteries, multiple gastrointestinal magnets and combined magnet-battery ingestions can cause significant morbidity, and prompt identification is important. Providers should ask verbal children for ingestion histories, and consider radiographs when symptoms are atypical or persistent. Like esophageal batteries, gastrointestinal magnet-battery ingestions should be removed promptly to prevent complications. Caregivers should supervise or limit the use of toys that include magnets and batteries.