The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant shift in the practice of almost all medical fields. Surgical specialities were particularly hard hit as these services had to give way to the more urgent management of COVID-19 patients both in-ward and in intensive care units. In otorhinolaryngology (ORL) practice, an additional issue to be dealt with was a relatively higher risk of being exposed to viral droplets from aerosol-generating procedures and examination of oral and nasal cavities of patients. This article describes our experience in managing ORL services at a government tertiary referral hospital, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, during the current COVID-19 outbreak since the year 2020. Two novel strategies were introduced namely the outsourcing of radiotherapy services for cancer patients and an innovative design in endoscopic examination of patients.
Superglue in the ear as a foreign body is an uncommon presentation. We report the case of a lady who accidentally instilled superglue directly onto her tympanic membrane and presented five days later. We successfully removed the glue with acetone and managed to preserve the integrity of the tympanic membrane.