8-year-old swallows 2 magnets from toy set, survives after timely medical aid

BENGALURU: Tiny magnets that come with do-it-yourself (DIY) building block toy sets could be dangerous for kids. An eight-year-old Bengaluru boy who swallowed two magnets from his toy set recently landed in hospital and survived after availing timely treatment.
The boy was brought to Rainbow Children’s Hospital near Marathahalli around 10.30pm on December 10 after after he complained to his parents about the magnets he had swallowed while playing.About two hours had elapsed since he ingested them. An abdominal scan confirmed the same and showed the two tiny magnets sitting at the bottom of his stomach, at the beginning of the intestinal tract.
The boy underwent an endoscopy under general anaesthesia to remove the magnets. “They were stuck to each other and the stomach wall had just begun to decay. Had the procedure been delayed, it could have led to sepsis and infection,” said Dr Arun Garg, senior paediatric gastroenterologist, Rainbow Children’s hospital.
Each of the two magnets was over 4cm in length. Due to its large size, the magnet had, thankfully, not entered the intestinal loop. Within 2-3 hours of ingestion, the child could have had symptoms like stomach pain, vomiting and fever. “In this case, the boy himself alerted the parents. Had it been a much younger child, it may have gone unnoticed till the symptoms turned severe,” explained Dr Garg.
Doctors at the hospital see at least two cases of children swallowing foreign objects every week. Toys, screws, coins, tiny batteries and sharp-edged metal pieces are what end up in children’s stomachs.
“Three weeks ago, there was a case of a 15-month-old boy having swallowed two needles. The mother had seen him do so and she rushed him to the hospital immediately. He had to be operated. His intestine was opened to remove the needles. The boy survived,” Dr Garg recalled. Toys like magnetic building blocks can be life-threatening if ingested, he added.
Paediatricians have been raising concerns about children’s toys, which can lead to medical emergencies. Dr SM Prasad, vice-president, Indian Academy of Paediatrics, Bengaluru chapter, said there’s a need to formulate child safety regulations for toy makers.
‘No safety guidelines in India’
“In the US, even the buttons used in children’s clothes are bigger than a child’s mouth. Ditto with toys. India has no such guidelines, which is resulting in many paediatric emergency cases. A toy must be designed keeping in mind child safety and it should be non-toxic,” he added.
According to him, till today, it’s coins and safety pins that dominate the foreign objects ingested by children. “Allowing a child to play with coins is one of the most dangerous things a parent can do. It’s the same with buttons, magnets, needles and pins,” he said.