Teen boy has part of intestine removed after swallowing 100 high-powered magnets

The surgery took place at Tauranga Hospital in Tauranga City after the boy was admitted with four days of abdominal pain. He told doctors he had swallowed the magnets, according to a report by the New Zealand Medical Journal published on Friday.

X-ray images show magnets in the intestines of a 13-year-old boy. Photo from New Zealand Medical Journal

"He disclosed ingesting approximately 80–100 5x2mm high-power (neodymium) magnets about 1 week prior," doctors said in the report, adding that the magnets were purchased from the e-commerce platform Temu.

An abdominal X-ray showed four lines of magnets located in the lower right side of the abdomen. The magnets appeared to be stuck together by magnetic forces, forming separate parts of the bowel.

Doctors stated that the pressure from the magnets had caused tissue death (necrosis) in four areas of the boy’s small intestine and caecum, a part of the large intestine.

The situation required major surgery to remove all magnets, including the removal of part of the bowel. The surgery was successful, and the patient was discharged after eight days of treatment, though no date was given for the operation.

"This case highlights not only the dangers of magnet ingestion but also the dangers of the online marketplace for our paediatric population," said the authors of the paper, Binura Lekamalage, Lucinda Duncan-Were, and Nicola Davis.

Swallowing multiple magnets can lead to serious complications such as "pressure necrosis, perforation, obstruction, fistulas, and sepsis." Since most cases require surgery, there can be long-term issues like bowel obstruction due to adhesions, abdominal hernias, and chronic pain, they said in the medical journal's report.

About 80-100 high-power magnets were removed during surgery on a 13-year-old boy in New Zealand. Photo from New Zealand Medical Journal

E-commerce platform Temu, where the magnets were purchased, said it was "sorry" to learn of the boy’s surgery, according to The Guardian.

"We have launched an internal review and reached out to the authors of the New Zealand Medical Journal article to obtain more details about the case," a spokesperson said in a statement.

According to both The Guardian and New York Post, New Zealand banned the sale of small, high-powered magnets in 2013 after multiple cases of children swallowing them.

The magnets, made of neodymium-iron-boron and often marketed as toys or stress relievers, are up to 30 times stronger than ordinary refrigerator magnets and can snap together with enough force to pinch or perforate tissue if swallowed.

The product remains widely available online, The Post reported.