Multicentre study of magnet ingestion in Spanish paediatric emergency departments

The ingestion of magnetic objects can cause complications in children, and there are no epidemiological or clinical data on the subject in Spain.

To determine the incidence, epidemiological characteristics and management of magnet ingestion in paediatric emergency departments in Spain.

Prospective observational multicentre study conducted over a 3-year period. The study universe consisted of patients aged less than 14 years.

The incidence was 4.8 cases per 100 000 emergency care episodes. Of the 72 patients included (mean age, 7.2 years), 54% were male. Seven percent had neuropsychiatric disorders. Sixty-one percent of the magnets were spherical and 69% came from toys. The size was variable, most frequently between 5 and 10 mm (50%), and ranging from 3 to 30 mm. Eighty-six percent of patients were asymptomatic. The most frequent symptom was abdominal pain. Eighty-three percent of the patients sought medical care within 6 h of ingestion and 92% within 24 h. Thirty-one percent of the cases were of multiple ingestion. Endoscopy was required for extraction in 15% of cases, a proportion that rose to 36% in the group of cases of multiple ingestion. None of the patients required surgery. We did not observe any gastrointestinal complications of magnet ingestion.

The ingestion of multiple magnets is less frequent than single magnet ingestion, and we did not observe any complications despite the lower frequency of procedures compared to other studies.