VIDEO: High-powered magnets continue to injure children
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WASHINGTON — High-powered rare-earth magnets continue to cause injuries in children despite continued warnings about their danger, a study presented at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition found.
The magnets, which are often sold in multiples to serve as desk toys, fidget toys and other accessories, can be harmful if ingested and can attract so strongly that they cause holes, perforations, bleeding and infections in parts of the body, such as the intestine, Leah K. Middelberg, MD, FAAP, a pediatric emergency medicine researcher at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, told Healio.
Middelberg and colleagues identified almost 600 high-powered magnet exposures in children treated at 25 children’s hospitals in the United States from 2017 to 2019.
“Education and supervision alone may not prevent these injuries,” Middelberg said.
References:
Child injuries due to high-powered magnet ingestion continue despite public education efforts and age restrictions. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1004619?. Published Jan. 31, 2023. Accessed Oct. 21, 2023.
Middelberg L, et al. Socioeconomic disparities in pediatric high-powered magnet ingestion epidemiology and outcomes. Presented at: AAP National Conference and Exhibition; Oct. 20-24, 2023; Washington, D.C.
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Healio Interview
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