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Updated: Jul 2, 2025
Handheld Metal Detector Screening for Metallic Foreign Body Ingestion in Children
Published on: September 11, 2018
Safety beyond Sight: Handheld Metal Detectors as Diagnostic Allies in the Management of Children Suspected to have
Tomaz Krencnik1, Tadej Jalsovec1, Martina Klemenak1
1Department of Pediatrics, University Medical Centre Maribor, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
Insights
Handheld metal detectors (HHMD) show promise in detecting ingested foreign bodies in children, but often lack precision in pinpointing exact locations compared to radiography. Further research is needed to refine HHMD use in pediatric emergency care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Medical Imaging
- Diagnostic Technology
Background:
- Foreign body (FB) ingestion is a frequent reason for pediatric emergency department visits.
- Whole-digestive-tract radiography is the current standard for detecting ingested FBs.
- Investigating alternative diagnostic tools like handheld metal detectors (HHMD) is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of HHMD in identifying the presence and location of ingested metal objects in children.
- To compare HHMD findings with radiographic examinations.
- To assess the potential of HHMD to reduce the need for radiographic imaging.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of medical data from children with suspected metal FB ingestion (October 2017-March 2023).
- Focus on object type and correlation between HHMD findings and radiographic images.
- Data collected from 43 pediatric patients.
Main Results:
- HHMD detected FBs in 81.4% of cases (sensitivity: 89.7%, specificity: 100%).
- Coins, button batteries, and hairpins were the most common ingested objects.
- HHMD results correlated with radiography in 69.8% of cases, with discrepancies in object location assessment.
Conclusions:
- HHMD can effectively detect the presence of ingested metal foreign bodies in children.
- However, HHMD has limitations in accurately determining the exact location of FBs compared to radiography.
- The findings suggest HHMD may supplement, but not fully replace, radiographic examination in all cases.
Background:
Foreign body (FB) ingestion remains a common cause of pediatric emergency department referrals, and the gold standard for detection is whole-digestive-tract radiographic examination. Our study explores whether handheld metal detectors (HHMD) can effectively identify the presence and location of ingested metal objects, potentially reducing the need for additional radiographic examination.
Methods:
We collected medical data from children with suspected metal FB ingestion who were referred to our emergency department (October 2017-March 2023), focusing on object type and correlating metal detector findings with radiographic images.
Results:
Data from 43 children (39.5% female; mean age: 4 y) referred to our emergency department were analyzed. Coins (32.6%), button batteries (18.6%), and hairpins (11.6%) were the most common ingested objects. Metal detectors detected the presence of FBs in 81.4% of cases (sensitivity: 89.7%; specificity: 100%). Radiographs, taken for 40 children, showed that the most common locations were the stomach (37%) and intestine (33%). The metal detector signals matched the radiography results in 69.8% of cases. According to HHMD, 34.9% of objects were accessible via endoscopy, contrasting with 51.2% via radiography (p < 0.05).
Conclusion:
While the findings obtained using handheld metal detectors often correlate well with radiograph findings in detecting metal FBs, for an important number of children, this confirmation is lacking, especially when determining the exact location of an object.
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