Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine

Case Presentation: A 65-year-old male with schizophrenia and intellectual disability ingested what was reported to be two AA batteries, prior to a scheduled magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. He developed severe abdominal pain and presented to the emergency department the following day with hypovolemic/septic shock. General surgery retrieved two metal sockets and a clevis pin from the stomach prior to surgical repair of a gastric perforation. This case highlights a rare yet critical outcome of ingesting ferromagnetic foreign bodies prior to an MRI study.

Discussion: Medical literature on this subject is scarce as indwelling metal foreign bodies are a contraindication to obtaining an MRI. Yet some patients with indwelling metallic foreign bodies proceed with MRI studies due to either challenges in communication such as age, psychiatric/mental debility, or unknowingly having an indwelling metal foreign body. In this case, the patient surreptitiously ingested metal objects prior to obtaining an MRI.