This toy is a death trap! Shocking case: A 3-year-old lived for months with 66 magnets in her belly! Warning: "It punctures her internal organs."
Berfin, the third child of Mahmut and İsmigül Nesim, was taken to hospital last winter with complaints of nausea and vomiting.
The family of the little girl, who recovered with medication, thinking it was due to a seasonal epidemic, applied to the Çam and Sakura City Hospital Emergency Service this time after the complaints recurred last month.
In the x-ray, bead-like foreign objects were detected in his stomach and intestines.
While the family thought their daughter had swallowed a necklace or bracelet, doctors suspected magnetic beads.
The child was initially admitted for monitoring and expected to pass the foreign objects through his stool. However, when it became clear that the objects remained fixed, the severity of the situation was understood with the help of a program that can detect magnetism.
Berfin, whose swallowed objects were determined to be magnetic beads, underwent emergency surgery. A five-hour operation involving a joint Pediatric Surgery and Gastroenterology team removed 66 magnetic beads from her digestive system. The endoscopy also revealed three perforations and adhesions in her stomach and two in her intestines. According to reports, the beads, believed to have been in her body for approximately seven months, had adhered to her organs and caused serious damage. The beads were removed, and the perforations were repaired laparoscopically. Her father, Mahmut Nesim, stated that beads sold as toys should be banned, saying, "This isn't a toy; it's a death trap."
Pediatric Surgery Specialist Dr. Mehmet Çakmak, who was part of the team that performed little Berfin's surgery, said, "A 3-year-old girl came to the emergency room with nausea and vomiting. An X-ray revealed multiple bead-like foreign objects in her abdomen. The family thought she had swallowed a plastic object, similar to a bead or bracelet. When we looked at the image, it resembled the cases of magnetic bead ingestion we've been seeing a lot lately. So, we admitted her for follow-up, but we couldn't be 100% sure. When plastic or stone beads are swallowed, we first monitor them; we don't consider surgery because there's a high probability they'll be expelled in the stool. However, multiple magnet ingestion is an emergency because it has the potential to cause adhesions and perforations in the stomach and intestines. Through a program, we recognized it as a magnetic object and took the patient into surgery."
Çakmak explained that they performed the surgery together with gastroenterologists, noting that 34 magnetic beads were removed from the stomach. He continued: "During the endoscopy, we discovered three perforations in the stomach. Then we moved on to the surgical part. We identified three fistulas in the stomach, connected to the small intestine, resulting from adhesions or perforations. Similarly, two perforations had occurred at the beginning of the small intestine and the large intestine, and the intestines had become stuck together. These were very long-term adhesions; the magnetic beads had been stuck together in the stomach and intestines for about 6-7 months. We removed a total of 66 magnetic beads. We repaired our patient's perforated organs laparoscopically."
Dr. Çakmak noted that magnetic beads insidiously adhere to organs without causing any symptoms when swallowed. "Usually, when patients present to the hospital with other complaints, they are detected on X-rays and a surgical consultation is made," he said. "The first is the gastric valve at the stomach outlet, and the second is the ileocecal valve, the valve where the small intestine meets the large intestine. This is because the magnetic beads separate from each other. This is the most critical point for us. As soon as some of them enter the stomach and the small intestine, the magnets quickly re-attract each other, sticking the stomach and intestine together. As they pass through that valve at the junction of the small and large intestines, some of them pass into the large intestine, while others remain in the small intestine. This causes the small intestine and the stomach to stick together. For example, food that should pass from the stomach to the duodenum passes directly into the large intestine. Stomach or intestinal contents can spread into the abdomen and even cause death. It's a very risky situation."
Dr. Çakmak, noting the recent increase in applications for magnetic beads, concluded his remarks with the following warnings: "In our hospital alone, we see almost 3-4, sometimes 5, cases of foreign body or magnet ingestion per month. These patients are undergoing very serious surgeries. Repairing multiple organs at the same time poses a significant risk. Any leakage in the repaired areas threatens the patient's life. The more beads a patient has swallowed, the greater the risk. This was the highest number of magnet bead ingestions in my experience so far. We removed 66 beads. As pediatric surgeons, we want the sale of magnet beads and toys banned. Patients are undergoing very serious surgeries, and life is at risk. Internal organs are being perforated."
Berfin's father, Mahmut Nesim, said that they first went to the hospital last winter with complaints of vomiting, but after receiving treatment, which was thought to be a seasonal epidemic, the complaints ended and Berfin continued her normal life. Nesim said, "Ten days ago, she started vomiting again. We brought her here, and they took X-rays. We were shocked when we saw them. There were beads like necklaces and bracelets. At first, we thought she had swallowed her sister's necklace and bracelet. Initially, they decided to follow up with her to medicate her and eliminate her in her stool. However, during follow-up, when it was determined that the objects hadn't moved, a program determined that they were magnetic magnets. There were indeed toy magnets left behind by her brother, which we had hidden. We don't know how she found and swallowed them. She never had any serious complaints. Then she was taken into emergency surgery. She had undergone 10 surgeries on her stomach and intestines. We couldn't believe it; we were shocked. These are sold as toys. After all, we think of them as toys, so we can buy them for our children. Her brother had seen them at a neighbor's and wanted them, so we bought them for him. According to our research, there are many such cases. There have been children who have lost their lives. Thankfully, our child survived. This can't be a toy; the sale of toys should be banned. This can't be a toy; this is death." trap," he said.
(DHA) This content was published by Sedef Karatay
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