Foreign Body: Pinto Bean
A 6-year old previously healthy female presents to the emergency department with her mother. The mother explains that she thinks the child put a bean in her ear two days ago. She was not able to get a good look inside the ear. The child says that her right ear has started to hurt. Examination of the right ear with the Wispr Digital Otoscope reveals this image.
The child has a pinto bean in her ear.
The pinto bean is completely occluding the external auditory canal and no portion of the eardrum is visible. Fortunately, the pinto bean was quite superficial and was easily removed under direct visualization using tweezers.
After removal, a minor abrasion of the posterior external auditory canal was noted as shown in the image below. Topical medications were considered but believed to be unnecessary. The child did well without further intervention.
Pinto Bean Removed – Minor Abrasion
