Eight year old inhaled magnetic earrings into her nose

Eight year old Nivi Argov from Moshav Aviel just wanted to wear her magnetic earrings on her nose, like she wears them on her ears. To her shock, within a few seconds the earrings had penetrated inside her nose and were stuck. Nivi tried to blow them out of her nose but she was unsuccessful. She arrived with her mother at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center’s Pediatric Emergency Medicine Unit to remove the earrings.

Dr. Yitzchak Shochat, a doctor in the ENT – Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery Unit, examined Nivi and located the earrings inside her nose. With local anesthesia and the aid of an endoscope, he carefully removed them. The earrings were successfully extracted and returned to Nivi, who was released from hospital feeling well.

Director of the ENT – Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery Unit, Prof. Itzhak Braverman, noted: “Unfortunately, this is not the first case of foreign objects among children. Children come to us frequently after having breathed in magnets into the airways or lungs, while playing. In this case, we are talking about a relatively older girl who innocently tried putting magnetic earrings on her nose and they suddenly were inhaled inside her nose. I repeat that the various magnet games are very dangerous and can cause a perforated septum and infection, and in more serious cases they can penetrate into the airways and lungs, which requires use of an endoscope under general anesthesia to remove the foreign object. Luckily, Nivi arrived in time and the earrings were removed successfully.”

: Nivi Argov with her mother, Dr. Yitzchak Shochat, and Prof. Itzhak Braverman, after the earrings were removed from her nose