Use of a surface magnet in the extraction of another magnet aspirated into the bronchus of a 7-year-old girl

What is it about?

A 7 year old girl presented to the ER with alleged history of aspiration of a toy magnet.

The challenge was to safely extract the foreign body without complications. A bronchoscopic approach with forceps, or Dormia Basket, or Fogarty embolectomy catheter, was considered, but these approaches had disadvantages in case the object was impacted, slipping of the object, and oxygen desaturation.

Ultimately, applying principles of removal of intraocular metallic objects in ophthalmologic surgery using magnetism, the object was removed with the help of another larger surface magnet.
The patient was placed in 30 degrees, head-end-low position. A Fogarty catheter was introduced under bronchoscopic guidance distal to the object. A strong surface magnet was placed on the surface of the chest and under C-arm guidance, the object was slowly moved from the bronchus to the trachea. Once at the vocal cords, the Fogarty catheter was inflated and the magnet was extracted.


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