@article {Doraiswamy123, author = {N V Doraiswamy and H Baig and L Hallam}, title = {Metal detector and swallowed metal foreign bodies in children.}, volume = {16}, number = {2}, pages = {123--125}, year = {1999}, doi = {10.1136/emj.16.2.123}, publisher = {British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine}, abstract = {OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a metal detector to diagnose swallowed radio-opaque metal foreign bodies (MFBs) in children, and whether they can detect non-radio-opaque MFBs. METHODS: In a prospective study, 231 children, who presented to the accident and emergency department with a history of swallowing MFBs, were evaluated by the metal detector as well as radiography to confirm and locate the presence or absence of MFBs. RESULTS: A definite history of swallowing a MFB by the child was given by 186 (81\%) parents. The metal detector located MFBs in 183 children and radiographs confirmed radio-opaque MFBs in 181. In the remaining 45 (19\%), when swallowing was suspected and not definite, both metal detector and radiography confirmed the presence of a MFB in only four. CONCLUSION: A high detection rate of swallowed MFBs was observed in this study, using a metal detector. It is also of value to detect non-radio-opaque MFBs like aluminium. The detection of MFBs is high when the history of swallowing is definite.}, issn = {1351-0622}, URL = {https://emj.bmj.com/content/16/2/123}, eprint = {https://emj.bmj.com/content/16/2/123.full.pdf}, journal = {Emergency Medicine Journal} }