On 26/11, a two-year-old boy was discharged from Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, showing stable health, alertness, and good appetite after a brief observation. An emergency team had successfully removed four foreign objects from his body through an endoscopy procedure lasting over one hour.

Four magnetic tacks removed by doctors from the boy's abdomen. Photo: Hung Le

Two days before the discharge, the boy's family suspected he had swallowed foreign objects while playing and immediately brought him to the hospital. X-ray images revealed four small, round, pointed metal objects in his abdomen. These tacks had firmly adhered to each other, forming a cluster that exerted pressure on his intestinal wall.

Doctors identified small, sharp magnetic objects as among the most dangerous foreign bodies in the digestive tract. Once inside the body, they attract each other across intestinal walls, which can easily lead to blockages, intestinal perforations, abdominal bleeding, and even life-threatening conditions.

Medical experts advise parents to prevent children from accessing toys with loose magnetic parts, sharp points, or small items such as batteries, buttons, and screws. If a child is found to have swallowed a foreign object, families should immediately take them to a medical facility. It is crucial not to induce vomiting, use folk remedies, or wait for the object to pass naturally.

Duc Hung