Research Article

Foreign Bodies in the Ear and Nose Among Children: A Cross- Sectional Study from Karbala, Iraq

Abstract

Background: One of the most common otorhinolaryngologic emergencies in children is the presence of foreign bodies in the ear and nose which may cause severe morbidity in case of unobserved and untreated presence. Small children are especially susceptible due to their developmental adventurousness, the easy availability of small objects and insufficient supervision. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the demographic and clinical features of pediatric patients who presented in the Karbala government teaching hospitals in Iraq, and also to report the patterns of diagnostics and management of ear and nasal foreign bodies in this institution. Materials and methods: The study was a cross-sectional study carried out in Imam Hussein Medical City and Imam Al Hassan Al Mujtaba Teaching Hospital of Karbala, 1 August 2024 to 14 March 2025. A total of 50 children aged 38 years with known ear or nose foreign bodies were recruited; demographic data, location and nature of foreign body and method of entry, diagnostic procedure, removal method and procedure time were measured using a structured questionnaire and the descriptive statistics analyzed. Results: Among 50 children 60% of them had foreign bodies in their nose and 40% in their ears. Most of the foreign objects were self-inserted (92), non-organic objects dominated (80). The diagnosis was based on autoscopy in 90 percent of the cases and the primary form of removal was by hand (66 percent); the majority of foreign bodies were cleared in less than four minutes (86 percent). Conclusion: The self-inserted non-organic foreign materials in the ear and nose of this Iraqi cohort were predominantly nose-based, and a majority of them were self-inserted. Diagnostic tests as simple as autoscopy and unsophisticated manual methods to extract the stone proved to be safe and fast in the vast majority of cases, which is why prompt presentation and expertise at the primary and secondary care level, as well as reasonable equipment are essential.

Authors affiliation:

Abbas Al-Kelabi (ORCID): Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Karbala, Karbala, Iraq.

How to Cite: A. Al-Kelabi. Foreign Bodies in the Ear and Nose Among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study from Karbala, Iraq. Healthcare Studies, 4(2):26–31, 2026. https://doi.org/10.58612/hs424