Surgeon Adam Bysiek, Assistant Professor at the Children’s University Hospital in Kraków, together with his team has managed to reconstruct the esophagus of a 17-month-old child thanks to an innovative use of strong magnets.

The patient suffered from an inborn underdevelopment of esophagus. He could not swallow properly because his esophagus was discontinuous. Since the boy could not live without a pump removing saliva and a feeding tube, he spent his whole life in hospital.

Adam Bysiek, Assistant Professor, decided to stimulate the development of the upper segment of the boy’s esophagus through the use of neodymium magnets. After appropriate tests had been made, a magnet was implanted in the child’s stomach, whereas another magnet was placed on the boy’s neck. Then a new magnet was placed at the other end of the esophagus. Soon the attraction of the magnets led to the natural development of tissues and eventually to the connection of the esophagus’s both ends. Otherwise, this could be possible only through a traditional surgery, which entails a lot of risk.

The groundbreaking method of treating esophagus discontinuity will be presented in Delhi at the annual World Congress of Pediatric Surgery in October. The method will prove beneficial to many patients and might become revolutionary in treating tissue discontinuities.