Doctors in the UK have documented an unusual case in which a child developed a skin condition known as erythema ab igne, or "toasted skin syndrome", after resting a laptop on his abdomen for up to eight hours a day while doing schoolwork. The case, published in BMJ Case Reports, highlights a little-known risk from prolonged everyday device use and shows how easily it can be mistaken for bruising or injury, delaying proper diagnosis.

The boy, described as being in "mid-childhood" and homeschooled, initially presented with a painless, lace-like reddish-brown rash on his abdomen, which nurses first suspected was "spontaneous bruising". Tests including a chest X-ray and CT scan found no internal injuries, and he was briefly treated with antibiotics for an unrelated lung finding. It was only when the marks worsened two weeks later that he revealed he regularly worked with his laptop resting on his stomach, often while it was charging, prompting doctors to diagnose erythema ab igne—a condition caused by repeated exposure to low-grade heat, more commonly seen in adults who use heating pads or sit too close to space heaters.