Pediatric Ear and Nose Foreign Bodies during COVID-19 Pandemic: Is it so boring to Stay at Home?

Introduction: During the COVID-19 lockdown children, confined at home, had a potentially increased risk of domestic accidents like the placement of foreign bodies in ears and noses. Thus, we analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) consultations in the ED of Giannina Gaslini Children’s Hospital in Genoa due to foreign bodies (FB). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed all ED admissions in our Institute due to an ENT diagnosis in a year of COVID-19 emergency starting from the first day of school closure, the February 24th, 2020 (COVID-19, group A), and compared them with data from the same period of the previous year (pre COVID-19, group B). We then compared the incidence of nasal and ear FB in these two periods. We also evaluated differences in the clinical severity, type of foreign bodies, presence of complications, and need for hospitalization in these two groups. Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant decrease in the need for ENT consultations (19% Group A vs. 23% Group B, p < 0.001). However, the percentage of ENT consultations for all FB increased (8% Group A vs. 4% Group B, p < 0.001), as well as for nose FB (0.6% vs.1.8%, p < 0.001), and ear FB (0.9% vs. 0.6%, p = 0.005). Conclusion: COVID-19 lockdown increased ENT ED accesses for foreign bodies, even though the overall need for ENT specialists in the ED decreased.