Doctors at Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry saved the life of a three-year-old boy after he swallowed several magnets which burst his appendix when they clamped around it — the first known case of its kind.

The little boy, who has not been identified, had several magnets removed through surgery after medical staff found them lurking in his digestive system when they X-rayed him.

The youngster had been admitted to the hospital in severe pain the day before, although it was concluded he had swallowed the magnets up to four months previously, when his sister brought them home from a school trip.

The patient was admitted to Altnagelvin’s paediatric surgical ward with cramps, abdominal pain and a high temperature. Radiologists X-rayed the three-year-old and spotted a mystery ‘foreign body’ close to his appendix.

The boy’s condition deteriorated the next day when he began suffering from peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdominal walls which can be caused by a burst appendix. This condition can be fatal if not treated |promptly.

Doctors then performed a laparotomy, a surgical incision into the abdomen, and discovered a tear to the boy’s appendix. They also found and removed several magnets which had become attracted to each other on either side of the appendix, causing it to burst when it became trapped tightly between them.

The youngster, who went on to make a full recovery, was operated on in October 2007, but the case came to light in the current edition of the Ulster Medical Journal, published by the Ulster Medical Society.

The article was written by Andrew L Robinson, Janne Bingham and Ronald LE Thompson, who were all involved in the boy’s care at Altnagelvin hospital.

In the article, they revealed there have only ever been 13 documented cases of ‘magnet ingestion’ worldwide. And the Derry boy’s illness is the only known case of a swallowed magnet causing a burst appendix.

Professor Patrick J Morrison of Belfast City Hospital, who is honorary editor of the Ulster Medical Journal, said the patient could have died had the problem not been spotted and treated.

Mr Robinson said the child’s mother remembered after the magnets had been found that his elder sister had brought some home from a school trip three to four months previously.