See Also
Causes
1. Insects
2. Plastic toys or beads
3. Cotton, paper
4. Organic material such as popcorn kernals or vegetable material
5. Small batteries (may be caustic!)
Symptoms
1. Ear Pain
Precautions
1. Removal risks tympanic membrane injury
2. First attempts at removal are most likely to succeed
  1. Best succes is for graspable objects (e.g. paper)
3. Risk of ear canal injury and further impaction of foreign body increases with repeat attempt
Management
1. Kill any live insects before attempting removal
  1. Rubbing Alcohol or
  2. Lidocaine 2% or
  3. Mineral Oil
2. Use otoscope with operative head
3. Instruments and Methods
  1. Micro Alligator Forceps: Remove graspable foreign body
  2. Cerumen curettes
  3. Suction catheter
  4. Ear Irrigation (do not use if organic foreign body or button battery)
4. Other measures
  1. Acetone dissolves styrofoam and super glue
  2. Otic antibiotic drops indicated for concurrent Otitis Externa or ear canal trauma
Management: Referral Indications
1. Young or developmentally delayed patients requiring Conscious Sedation
2. Ear canal Lacerations, tympanic membrane injury or other trauma on attempted removal
3. Foreign body refractory to removal attempts (e.g. impacted in canal)
4. Sharp foreign body
References
1. Ansley (1998) Pediatrics 101:638
2. DiMuzio (2002) Otol Neurotal 23:473

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 5/16/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.