Doctor makes disturbing discovery after results come back normal for 4-year-old's ear pain
It's no secret that children can get themselves into some pretty sticky situations, but sometimes medical anomalies happen.
Case in point, what happened to this four-year-old whose story recently went viral on TikTok when it was shared by his doctor.
Taking to the app five days ago (19 February), Dr Meghan Martin, from Florida, shared 'one of the most interesting cases' she has ever had.
Advert
She explained that it all went down when the youngster grabbed his ear at family BBQ 'and started crying, complaining of ear pain.'
"So they [his family] brought him to the emergency department and he has a totally normal ear exam," she said.
As a result, the boy was told to take ibuprofen and numbing drops, but despite this 'nothing was helping' and he remained in pain.
When he returned to the emergency department, he was given a 'CAT scan of the mastoid', which is a honeycomb like bone behind the ear.
But this also showed nothing abnormal - although the boy remained in pain.
Martin explained that she got involved when the family came back to the emergency department when the four-year-old's condition worsened further.
"He was having some fevers and he's not wanting to eat and drink and we have no idea what's going on with him," she said.
"His ear exam was totally normal [but] he was still complaining of ear pain."
It was then that she noticed 'a little bit of swelling' on the right hand side of his throat and near his tonsils, as well as 'a little bit of tenderness' on his neck.
"So, we went all out. We did a CAT scan of the neck which included the ears," she said.
"We did a ton of labs, gave him fluids, did every test that we could think of doing.
"And we got our answer on the CAT scan."
This scan revealed that there was a 2cm wire 'lodged in the peritonsillar tissues on the right' and it created an abscess.
"He had been eating a hamburger when this had happened," she said.
"The metal wires on the grill brush had become lodged in the hamburger.
"And when he ate the hamburger it got lodged in the soft tissues.
"He was feeling the pain in his ear probably because of the eustachian tube - the tube that drains the ear to the back of the throat is in that area."
Thankfully, the boy was operated on successfully to remove the metal wire and the abscess was drained.
The doctor then used the TikTok as an opportunity to warn others about this hidden danger of grill brushes with metal wires.
"There's not only the risk that it can get lodged in the soft tissues in your throat.
"They can also cause bowel obstructions and perforations in the abdomen if accidentally swallowed."
So, in future, BBQ with caution.
Topics: TikTok
Emma Guinness