Localising ingested metallic foreign bodies to guide surgical planning: A novel use for the CT metal artefact...

We present the case of a 20-year-old female patient who presented following ingestion of multiple button magnets. She remained clinically well however serial abdominal radiographs demonstrated the magnets were not passing through the gastrointestinal tract and a CT was, therefore, performed for further assessment and to aid surgical planning. Artefact from the magnets made interpretation of the CT challenging. The use of a Metal Artefact Reduction (MAR) algorithm, however, enabled accurate localisation of the magnets thus guiding subsequent surgical intervention. Whilst MAR algorithms are usually used in the assessment of iatrogenic metallic devices (e.g., joint prostheses), this case demonstrates an example of their potential wider use.