Iatrogenic ossicular injury in an autistic child.

A 5-year-old autistic child inserted a grain of oiled popcorn into his right ear canal. Forcible removal of the foreign body in an emergency room while the child was held down resulted in severe ossicular injury. This case well illustrates the danger in removing foreign bodies from the ear of a child without anesthesia. The danger becomes greater when the child is autistic. Ossicular injury, when it happens in such a case, may become quite severe. Treatment of an autistic child presents another difficult problem.