A heart-shaped magnet was removed from a six-year-old boy’s stomach.
The youngster accidentally swallowed the 2cm long object while playing after lunch.
Luckily, his parents saw the lad swallow the magnet and quickly took him to a nearby hospital.
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Doctors noticed it in the young patient’s gut in an X-ray and transferred him to the Endoscopy Department.
They were concerned it could cause intestinal perforation and possible necrosis.
A medical team at the Xuyen A General Hospital in Vinh Long, Vietnam, performed an endoscopy under anaesthesia to remove the magnet.
Luckily, an examination of the boy’s digestive tract showed no signs of injury, and he was discharged that evening, as reported by Need To Know.
Dr Nguyen Trong Tuong, Deputy Head of Endoscopy Department, said: “The patient was brought to the hospital quickly, so the early intervention was favourable.”
“The foreign object was not sharp, so it did not cause any perforation or bleeding.
“However, if left for a long period of time, the object can move down to the intestines, causing obstruction, even severe damage to the digestive tract.”
He advised parents to keep small objects such as coins, button batteries and magnets out of the reach of their young children, especially those under the age of three.
If a parent suspects their tot may have swallowed a foreign object, they should take them to the hospital as quickly as possible.
In most cases, a single magnet passes harmlessly through the intestines and is expelled without complications.
However, swallowing multiple magnets or a magnet with another piece of metal can be dangerous, possibly life-threatening.
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