Shocked surgeons have called for children’s games with magnets to be banned after having to cut away parts of a toddler’s intestines in an emergency op.
The two-year-old boy – not named in local media in Tel Aviv, Israel – had swallowed 17 powerful magnetic balls which stuck together as they passed through him.
Surgeons at the Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital say the colourful magnets were so strong they had pulled apart sections of the boy’s digestive tract.
The toddler had been vomiting badly before being taken to the clinic by his parents, according to local media.
Scans revealed that the magnets were pulling different sections of his intestines together making it impossible for them to pass through the body.
Dr Daniel Shenhar – director of hospital Pediatric Surgery – explained on 3rd July: “The magnets separate in the intestines, causing the loops to adhere together, resulting in pressure and the subsequent formation of holes.”
He added: “In the scan, you can see 17 individual magnets of varying sizes.
“They were not clustered together but spread across different locations, causing four distinct holes in the intestines.”
Dr Shenhar added: “Increasingly, we are seeing cases like this. This is already the fourth baby we’ve treated since the beginning of the year.
“The patient was vomiting and suffered from intestinal obstruction.
“Upon taking the child to the operating room, we discovered the extensive damage that required the removal of a portion of the intestines.”
He went on: “Usually when swallowing foreign bodies, they pass through the intestines and come out without many problems.
“The problem here is that these are very strong magnets that pass between two different loops that are usually not adjacent, because they don’t swallow it as one lump, but in bulk, one by one.”
Dr Shenhar concluded: “This game should be kicked out of the house. It is very stimulating.
“The magnets are of different colours and sizes – very beautiful.
“You can assemble all kinds of structures and chains from them but this game is dangerous.”
The boy’s condition is improving, medics confirmed.
Dr Shenhar said: “He is recovering after the abdominal surgery. It will take a good few days for all the connections we made in the intestines to heal.
“He’s expected to make a full recovery.”
