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Updated: Jul 1, 2025

Handheld Metal Detector Screening for Metallic Foreign Body Ingestion in Children
Published on: September 11, 2018
[Magnetic foreign bodies of the gastrointestinal tract in pediatric practice]
V V Ignatiev1, A V Muraviev1, T A Garapov1,2
1Sevastopol City Hospital No. 5 - Center for Maternal and Child Health, Sevastopol, Russia.
Objective:
To analyze the pediatric patients with multiple magnetic foreign bodies of the gastrointestinal tract undergoing surgical intervention; to present the treatment and diagnostic algorithm in pediatric practice; to compare surgical interventions for these lesions and determine the most optimal one.
Material And Methods:
A retrospective single-center study included 9 patients diagnosed with multiple magnetic foreign bodies of the gastrointestinal tract. Exclusion criteria: outpatient cases and endoscopic removal of magnetic foreign bodies. All patients underwent laparoscopy and/or laparotomy. We analyzed postoperative data and determined the preferable approach.
Results:
All patients were discharged without complications. Length of hospital-stay was shorter after laparoscopy (7 vs. 12 days). Patients after laparoscopy didn't need for intensive care while laparotomy required ICU stay for 4.5±2.2 days. Enteral feeding started after 1 and 3 days, respectively.
Conclusion:
Laparoscopy is preferable for multiple magnetic foreign bodies of the gastrointestinal tract due to shorter hospital-stay, no need for ICU-stay, lower surgical trauma and earlier enteral feeding.
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