Doctors at the Ear Nose Throat Hospital Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday said that they recently conducted surgery to remove a part of a chopstick from the left ear of a 42-year-old patient from the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong after the foreign object had been left in her ear for seven years due to a traffic accident.

N.H.T., a 42-year-old resident of Lam Dong Province’s Da Lat City, is receiving necessary stabilization following the removal of the chopstick part, which measured 2.5 centimeters in length, while awaiting a subsequent surgical procedure.

This second surgery aims to repair the ossicular chain and mend the eardrum in order to enhance the patient’s hearing.

Over seven years ago, while delivering food, T. and her husband got into a traffic accident, which caused a chopstick to pierce her left ear.

Upon her admission to Lam Dong General Hospital, doctors promptly performed surgery to remove the majority of the chopstick.

During the follow-up examination, T. was informed that a small piece of the chopstick remained in her ear, but she declined further surgery out of fear.

Over the following seven years, she experienced alarming symptoms like ear pain and pus discharge, but she relied on self-medication.

She recently brought her child to Ho Chi Minh City for a health check-up and took the opportunity to visit the Ear Nose Throat Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for a follow-up due to worsening ear pain.

Doctors at the Ho Chi Minh City-based hospital observed that T.’s left ear pinna was red but painless. 

However, the ear canal was too narrow for eardrum examination, and a hearing assessment indicated poor hearing on the left side. 

Following a CT scan, the doctors suspected a foreign body in the ear and prescribed surgery.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Vinh, deputy director at the Ear Nose Throat Hospital Ho Chi Minh City, stated that a case like T.’s, where a patient unintentionally leaves a foreign object inside their ear, is exceptionally rare. 

Leaving the chopstick fragment in the patient’s ear for an extended period has resulted in hearing damage, including a ruptured eardrum and disruption of her ossicular chain.

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