On June 8, Gia Lai Provincial Central General Hospital said it had just successfully performed surgery to remove a chain of 25 magnets stuck in the digestive tract of patient N.G. B (13 years old, residing in Tay Son commune).
The surgery was performed on June 6. Currently, the patient's health is stable, a gastric tube has been removed and milk has been given back.
According to BSCKII Le Duc Hai, Department of General Surgery, head of the surgical team, the child was admitted to the hospital with severe abdominal pain. The family said that the child suffered from mild mental developmental disorder. About a week before being admitted to the hospital, while playing at his uncle's house who works as a car mechanic, the child swallowed and swallowed many small magnets.
After swallowing the magnet, the patient showed signs of abdominal pain but still lived normally, so the family did not take him to the doctor. On June 6, when the pain increased, the family took him to the hospital.
The results of abdominal CT scan showed that the foreign object was a chain of many magnets trapped in the digestive tract, extending from the head of the duodenum to the head of the jejunum with a length of about 20cm.
According to doctors, this is a particularly dangerous case of digestive foreign objects. Many magnets can stick together through the intestinal wall, causing compression, necrosis or perforation of the intestine if not treated promptly.
BSCKII Le Duc Hai said that the General Surgery Department regularly receives and treats cases of swallowing foreign objects in the digestive tract.
Doctors recommend that parents need to manage children closely, especially in families with small items or toys such as button pins, magnets and easy-to-swallow details. When detecting or suspecting a child swallowing a foreign object, it is necessary to quickly take them to a medical facility for examination and timely treatment, avoiding life-threatening complications.
