Magnetic toy beads form 'a bracelet' in a toddler's STOMACH after she swallowed 18 of them one by one

March 20, 2019  13:05

Surgeons in China have reportedly removed 18 magnetic beads from a toddler's stomach after she swallowed the colourful metal balls one by one. 

It is said that the two-year-old child had put the beads into her mouth while playing in front of her mother. 

A medical scan showed that the small beads - a popular toy among families in China - had attracted each other in the girl's belly and formed what looked like a bracelet. 

The girl was rushed to the Women and Children's Healthcare Hospital in Inner Mongolia by her family at around 8pm last Thursday, according to Inner Mongolia News.

It is reported that her mother had tried to retrieve the beads as soon as possible, but failed.

Dr. Li Ruifeng, who treated the girl, said the child did not feel any pain when she was taken to the ER. Nor had she vomited. 

The doctor said the beads had been swallowed one by one, and 'as soon as one entered [the girl's body] it was attracted by the others'.

The two ends of the 'bracelet' were said to be attracting each other through the wall of the girl's stomach.  

Surgeons extracted the tiny balls from the girl's digestive system using a snare and helped by gastroscopy. The procedure took 15 minutes or so.  

Gastroscopy is an examination of the inside of the gullet, stomach and duodenum. It is performed using a flexible fibre-optic instrument called a gastroscope or endoscope, which can take photographs of the area and transmit them to a TV monitor. 

Medics said the beads caused the girl to sustain stomach ulcers, which are open sores on the lining of the stomach. 

They said it was fortunate that the beads had not slipped into the girl's intestines, otherwise the consequences would have been more serious. 

Colourful magnetic beads are a popular 'intelligence toy' for children in China. Parents believe the bright, rainbow-coloured beads could help stimulate their children's imagination as they use them to build different shapes.

The price of a pack of 1,000 magnetic beads ranges from 24 to 135 yuan (£2.7 to £15) on Taobao, the Chinese equivalent to eBay. 

But doctors have warned parents to stop buying such toys for their sons and daughters after children across the country had swallowed them by accident and suffered from serious illness.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

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