Vol.101 No.8 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 101 No. 8 August 2008
Removal of Polyvinyl Alcohol from the External Auditory Canal
Mitsuru Yanai
(Asahikawa Ko-sei General Hospital, Asahikawa Medical College)
Takuya Arakawa
(Asahikawa Ko-sei General Hospital)
Tatsuya Hayashi and Yasuaki Harabuchi
(Asahikawa Medical College)
We report the case of a 6-year-old girl with a small, round-shaped foreign body, composed of polyvinyl alcohol, in her right external auditory canal. This foreign body was originally a component of toy beads with which children are able to make variously shaped objects by sticking them together using water. Polyvinyl alcohol is a water-soluble polymer and is employed as an adhesive agent. In our case, it was not easy to remove it because it had fully adhered to her external auditory canal.
It is important to note that this kind of foreign body should not be attempted to be removed by water irrigation, as this would cause it to dissolve and stick to the tissue.
Key words :polyvinyl alcohol, external auditory canal, foreign body