Doctors remove 64 magnetic beads from six-year-old boy’s intestine

Doctors remove 64 magnetic beads from six-year-old boy’s stomach ‘after he went to hospital with crippling tummy pains’

• The unnamed six-year-old, of China, was taken to his nearest hospital 
• An X-ray revealed a cluster of metallic shadows inside his intestines 
• Surgery to remove the beads from the child’s intestines took three hours 

Doctors claim to have removed more than 60 magnetic beads from a schoolboy’s intestine.

The unnamed six-year-old, of China, was taken to his nearest hospital with crippling stomach pains. 

Paediatricians conducted an X-ray, which showed a cluster of metallic beads inside his stomach.

Local media reports that the boy swallowed the toys, which his mother had bought for him to play with. 

The unnamed six-year-old, of China, was taken to his nearest hospital with crippling stomach pains (pictured, the beads in his stomach)

Paediatricians conducted an X-ray, which showed a cluster of metallic beads inside his intestines (pictured, the beads after they were removed)

Surgery to remove the magnetic beads from the child’s intestines lasted three hours, medics revealed.

It is unknown what hospital he was treated at. However, it is believed to be in the city of Harbin – where he lives.

Paediatrician Xu Bo, who cared for him, said the boy is in a stable condition following his operation.

Local media states that she said the procedure involved removing sections of the boy’s small intestine and appendix.

Dr Xu said the neodymium magnetic beads – called Buckyballs – could’ve ruptured his intestine, which would have put his life in ‘real danger’.

Dr Xu said: ‘Two days before the surgery, the boy swallowed what we discovered to be 61 magnetic beads. His parents weren’t aware.

Local media reports that the boy swallowed the toys (pictured), which his mother had bought for him to play with

Paediatrician Xu Bo (pictured), who cared for him, said the boy is in a stable condition following his operation

DO FOREIGN OBJECTS NEED TO BE REMOVED FROM THE STOMACH? 

The Royal Surrey County Hospital says it depends entirely on whereabouts the foreign object is.

‘Some objects can harm the body and may need to be removed urgently. These include batteries (button and disc batteries) and magnets,’ it says. 

‘Objects in the oesophagus often need to be removed. This will depend on your child’s symptoms. 

‘Most objects in the stomach or further along (in the intestines) will pass safely on their own If your child has worrying symptoms after swallowing an object, it may need to be removed.’ 

‘After ingesting the balls, he didn’t experience any adverse effects until about six hours before he was admitted to hospital.

‘In scans we found a cluster of high-density shadows. It looked like a necklace. I asked him whether he had ever swallowed magnetic balls, and he said yes.’

Dr Xu added that the boy’s mother revealed she bought him a set of 64 Buckyballs, with the boy then admitting he ate them.

The NHS says most swallowed objects travel through the digestive tract and leave the body without causing problems.

It comes after the parents of another six-year-old boy last year told how he was left in hospital for two weeks after swallowing 14 magnets.

Mikah Arvidson, from Sandy, Utah, started vomiting and complaining of abdominal pain on Halloween.

Doctors discovered tiny magnets inside his small intestines had perforated the lining and were leaking bile into his stomach.

It turned out the magnets were neodymium magnets, which are small spheres that have been marketed as educational toys.   

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