U.S. News & World Report: Teen Loses Part of Bowel After Swallowing 80+ Magnets

By HealthDay

A young boy in New Zealand needed emergency surgery and lost part of his bowel after swallowing more than 80 small, high-powered magnets, according to a new case report published in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

Doctors said the boy swallowed between 80 and 100 neodymium magnets, each just a few millimeters wide. Once inside his digestive tract, the magnets clumped together and pulled sections of his bowel toward each other, causing severe internal damage.

Four days after enduring severe stomach pain, the teen sought medical care. 

Scans showed that the magnets had formed four chains inside his abdomen, binding parts of the bowel together. 

Surgeons performed an emergency operation to remove the magnets and the damaged tissue. The boy spent eight days recovering in the hospital before being discharged, the report stated.

Read the full article via U.S. News & World Report

Children's Mercy has more on swallowed magnets.