Choking hazard
Choking hazardIchilov Hospital

A five-year-old boy arrived at Ichilov Hospital's emergency room on the eve of Sukkot due to stomach pains and vomiting, after swallowing spherical magnets that reached his stomach cavity.

The child was rushed to an operating room where Pediatric Gastroenterology Unit Director Dr. Shlomi Cohen inserted a tube through the mouth along the digestive system while the child was under general anasthesia.

In the stomach four magnets were glued to each other and attached to a large stomach fold. Using special equipment, the magnets were pulled out very carefully so that they would not separate from each other. After removing the magnets it was possible to see in the stomach that the magnets caused an ulcer and local inflammation that caused abdominal pain and vomiting.

The child was hospitalized for observation and medication for another 24 hours and after improvement and the child began to drink and eat he was released home.

"Children swallow a lot of things that aren't food - from coins, marbles, plastic parts, safety pins, needles, magnets, and batteries. The danger of swallowing a foreign body is primarily inhalation into the respiratory system and the risk of suffocation. Other hazards are related to gastrointestinal damage such as local inflammation/ulceration, hemorrhage, obstruction, and perforation (hole) in the digestive system.

"When a child swallows a foreign body, a medical center should be quickly reached for evaluation and treatment. Parents must remove any foreign body that may pose a danger from the reach of children from the age when they learn to crawl and may reach any hidden corner of the house," added the senior doctor.