Dec 20, 2008 4:15 pm US/Eastern
Toys With Multiple Magnets Pose Bowel Hazard
(CBS)
Small toys can worry many parents for the risks they pose to curious mouths and what lies beyond.
"We see toy cars, little tires off little toy cars that little ones have eaten off, certainly small balls and things like that. We see things all the time," says Children's Hospital ER physician, Dr. Raymond Pitetti.
Small toys with magnets can be even worse, especially if your child swallows several magnets.
The journal Pediatric Radiology has published a study of 128 magnet swallowing cases, something parents should pay attention to as they buy toys this holiday season.
Multiple magnets can stick together along the intestines' twists and turns, and lead to infection, surgery and in some cases death.
"What can happen is that the two magnets can attract to each other and close or pinch some of the lining of your intestine, and as a result, that lining, the blood supply to that lining may get cut off," explains Dr. Pitetti.
A single magnet generally isn't an issue.
"Once they get into the stomach, will pass through your system, even things that are sharp, like pins, without problems, so we don't go, we don't try to retrieve those kinds of objects," says Dr. Pitetti.
But if you think your child has swallowed more than one -- get medical attention immediately.
"That person can then get x-rays of their stomach or intestines and really look to see is there one or are there multiple ones and make a decision from there whether we need to get them out or not."
Written warnings are not required on toys containing magnets.
While all parents should be careful, parents of children with autism and other developmental issues should take extra care. More than 16 percent of the children 4 and older who swallowed magnets had autism.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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