A 6-year old boy has placed a hard bead in his ear and presents to the ED for care. How do you remove this foreign body as painlessly as possible? You can just barely see the edge of the bead by just looking at the external ear.
By experience, you know that mini-Alligator clips and forceps will not be able to sufficiently grab the edges of the bead. Additionally it may push the bead in even further.
Trick of the Trade
Tissue adhesive glue to the rescue!
Apply the glue gently to a long Q-tip's wooden end. Immediately adhere the stick to the bead, being careful not to touch the external ear canal. This should be a painless procedure. In fact, I was showing the child some animation movies during this part of the procedure. After waiting 20-30 seconds to let the glue dry, my resident gently rotated the bead to loosen the bead from the canal edges. Then like magic, he pulled the bead out with only a little "ouch" voiced by an otherwise calm child.
Just as equally entertaining was the pediatric resident doing a little happy dance. Wish I had gotten a photo of that.
Note: This technique should only be reserved for the child who can stay still and for hard-surface objects. For instance, it won't work on organic products such as peas, corn, or cockroaches.
