Removal of Aural Tick in a General Practitioner Setting During COVID-19 Lockdown

Azliehanis Abdul Hadi,Husbani Suhaimee,Irfan Mohamad,Zuraida Zainun

doi:10.3329/bjms.v19i0.48171

Abstract

Foreign body in the ear including beads and seeds is not uncommon in children. Tick also has been a common aural foreign body especially in tropical climate countries. Although in older cooperative children it can be attempted in the clinic setting, most of paediatric aural foreign bodies require general anaesthesia. In addition, a general practitioner setting may impose additional limitations. The available instruments and experience maybe be different from a tertiary referral centre. We report a case of a 3-year-old child with left ear pain for 4 days associated with loud crying when the pinna was touched. It has been worsening until the cry became continuous. The mother was quite hesitated to bring the child to hospital because of the lockdown situation. She sought nearby general practitioner where the engorged tick was removed without any complication in that clinic alone. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.19(0) 2020 p. S 82-S 84

Highlights

Foreign body in the ears are not uncommon encounters in tertiary centres with otolaryngology setting
CASE REPORT A 3-year-old girl was noted by mother for being irritable for 4 days, especially whenever the right ear was touched
The mother decided to bring the child to a general practitioner (GP) since the problem occurred during lockdown period and travel to distant tertiary hospital was quite troublesome

Summary

Introduction

INTRODUCTION Foreign body in the ears are not uncommon encounters in tertiary centres with otolaryngology setting. Depending on the types of foreign body, its removal often needs special instruments and often requiring sedation or general anaesthesia, especially if it involves relatively younger-aged children. Half of the aural foreign body cases (59.8%) occur in children of less than 10 years old[1]. Tick infestation into the ear drum is uncommon, and removal in a 3-year-old child is a near impossibleat general practitioner (GP) setting.

Results

Conclusion