Introduction:

The presence of a foreign body in the nasal or otic cavity is a frequent problem in pediatrics, because it can produce severe sequels for the patient's health. Stratifying by age would help us to define the most appropriate measures between these events at different ages.

Objective:

To know the average age difference between patients with otic and nasal foreign bodies.

Methods:

Descriptive observational study with analytical components, simple random sampling. Pediatric patients at the Hospital de Clínicas with a history of introduction of foreign body into the nostrils and external auditory canal from January to June 2019.

Results:

182 interconsultations were analyzed in the otolaryngology service of pediatric patients with a history of foreign body in the ear or nostril. 47.81% were female. In 58.79% of the cases the reason for consultation was foreign body in the nostril and in 41.21% in the ear. The most frequent extraction methods were nasal curettage (87.85%) and earwashing (54.67%). The most frequent foreign bodies were pieces of bijouteri. Only 2 (1.09%) patients required hospitalization (both with delayed psychomotor development) and extraction under sedation. The most commonly used treatment after ear removal was topical antibiotics (52%) and oral antibiotics combined with nasal lavage (28.97%) for nasal fossa. The mean age of patients with foreign body in the nasal fossa was 2.97 years and in the ear 5.59 years (p<0.05).

Conclusion:

The guidelines state that children from 5 years onwards distinguish good and bad, decrease autointroductions and this becomes rather accidental; however, in our experience the average age of ear introduction was greater than 5 years.