Neodymium magnet-assisted retrieval of metallic foreign bodies in the upper extremity: a descriptive surgical technique series.

Authors

Okyar Altas, Kemal Zencirli, Kagan Cevlik, Dogan Kiral, Alperen Korucu, Alperen Elibol

Published in

Frontiers in surgery. Volume 13. Pages 1854795. Epub Jul 15, 2026.

Abstract

Retained metallic foreign bodies (MFBs) of the upper extremity constitute a clinically consequential subset of penetrating soft tissue injuries. Conventional retrieval approaches may necessitate extensive tissue dissection, prolonged operative durations, and repeated intraoperative fluoroscopic imaging. Rare earth neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets represent a minimally invasive adjunctive instrument for the retrieval of ferromagnetic MFBs; however, procedurally granular, anatomically stratified data from dedicated hand surgery practices remain limited.
A retrospective review of 15 consecutive patients who underwent neodymium magnet-assisted retrieval of upper extremity MFBs at a single institution between January 2022 and January 2024. N35-grade NdFeB disc magnets (10 × 1.5 mm; 1.17-1.20 Tesla) and a 36 mm fishing magnet were employed. Two operative techniques were applied: direct removal, in which the magnet attracts the MFB through a mini-incision; and vibration localization, in which magnet-induced fragment movement enables precise pre-extraction localization. Primary outcomes were procedural success, operative duration, and fluoroscopy utilization.
All 15 MFBs were successfully retrieved (100% procedural success). Mean operative duration was 3.13 ± 1.35 min overall; the hand cohort (n = 12) demonstrated a mean of 2.75 ± 1.14 min under local anesthesia. Mean fluoroscopy utilization was 0.88 images per case (total: 13 images). Twelve patients (80%) underwent superficial mini-incisions without deep dissection.
In this preliminary descriptive series, neodymium magnet-assisted retrieval achieved 100% procedural success with low fluoroscopy utilization, brief operative durations, and uncomplicated short-term wound healing in all patients. These findings should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating given the limited sample size and support the feasibility-rather than the proven comparative superiority-of this approach within a dedicated hand surgery practice.

PMID:
42529422
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 30 Jul 2026.

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