A 5-year-old child inserted a toy battery into his ear, causing burns to his eardrum

Nhat, 5 years old, put a toy battery in his left ear. Two days later, his ear was sore and had fluid, and the doctor diagnosed burns to his eardrum.

Master, Doctor Nguyen Chi Trung, Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Tam Anh General Hospital, Hanoi, ENT endoscopy of the patient showed a lot of fluid in the left external ear canal and a foreign object located deep. The patient underwent endoscopy under anesthesia to remove the foreign body.

Dr. Trung said the battery remained in the baby's ear for a long time, causing burns to the epidermis of the external ear canal at the location in contact with the battery and a large part of the left eardrum. There is a dark brown pseudomembrane on the eardrum, showing that the tissue area in contact with the battery has been burned, and the inflammation has spread to about half of the external ear canal.

After removing the battery from the baby's ear, the doctor treats inflammation and pseudomembranes on the eardrum, placing gauze soaked in 10% betadine solution in the ear canal to treat inflammation.

According to Dr. Trung, although the foreign object was removed, the baby's eardrum was extensively damaged and there was an area of ​​necrotic tissue, potentially causing deeper damage that could affect hearing. The patient continues to take antibiotics, pain relievers, and ear drops, and is closely monitored and periodically re-examined to assess the level of recovery of the eardrum and early detection of complications, if any.

According to Dr. Trung, toy batteries are much more dangerous than regular foreign objects. When in the moist environment of the ear canal, the battery can create an electric current or electrochemical reaction, increasing the temperature at the contact site, causing damage to tissue, eardrum and middle ear structures.

Doctors recommend that when discovering a child has a foreign object in the ear, parents absolutely do not try to use cotton swabs, tweezers, forceps or other tools to remove the foreign object because it can push it deeper, tear the ear canal or increase damage to the eardrum. When they suspect a child has a foreign object stuck in their ear, parents need to take the child to a medical facility as soon as possible to have the foreign object examined and safely removed.

After the foreign object is removed, the child still needs to be re-examined to monitor the healing process of the ear canal and eardrum. If your eardrum has been damaged, your doctor may order a hearing evaluation to detect hearing loss early.

Hoang Duong

*Patient's name has been changed