Aural Foreign Bodies: Descriptive Study of 224 Patients in Al-Fallujah General Hospital, Iraq

Abstract

Foreign bodies (FB) in the external auditory canal are relative medical emergency. The objective of this study was to describe the types of FB and their complications and to highlight on new FB not seen before which was the bluetooth devices that were used for cheating during high school examination in Al-Fallujah city. This was a two-year hospital-based descriptive study performed in the Department of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), Al-Fallujah General Hospital, from June 2011 to May 2013; during this period, 224 FB had been extracted from 224 patients. Beads were extracted from 68 patients (30.4%), cotton tips were extracted from 50 patients (22.3%), seeds and garlic were extracted from 31 patients (13.8%), papers were extracted from 27 patients (12.1%), insects were extracted from 24 patients (10.7%), button batteries were extracted from 13 patients (5.8%), and bluetooth devices were extracted from 7 patients (3.1%). Most of the cases did not develop complications (87.5%) during extraction. The main complications were canal abrasion (4.5%). Proper instrumentation allows the uncomplicated removal of many FB. The use of general anesthesia is preferred in very young children. Bluetooth device objects should be considered as new aural FB, especially in our territory.