Nasal Foreign Body Hook

This is an instrument used in the outpatient to remove foreign bodies from the nose.

Nasal foreign bodies are common in children and in mentally retarded or disturbed individuals. The usual foreign bodies seen are small objects like beads, seeds, chalk piece or even stones.

Foreign bodies in the nose cause symptoms like nasal obstruction and discharge. Children often present with a history of unilateral, foul-smelling and/or blood stained nasal discharge. Anterior rhinoscopy may reveal the foreign body, covered with slough or discharge. Long standing foreign bodies in the nose sometimes get covered by deposits of salts and slough and become rhinoliths.

How is the foreign body removed

It is important to pass the tip of the instrument over and beyond where the object is lodged in the nose so that it can be hooked and drawn forward along the floor of the nasal cavity.

If you look closely, you will find that one end of the foreign body hook is shaped like a ring.

The other end is a curette, shaped like a spoon.

Differentiating it from the Jobson Horne wax hook:

The Jobson Horne wax hook is a similar looking instrument used to remove wax and foreign bodies from the ear. Here's how to tell the nasal foreign body hook and the wax hook apart.

• The nasal hook is shorter and stouter than the ear hook.
• One end of both instruments is ring shaped, but the ring on the wax hook is smaller and more delicate.
• The other end of the nasal hook is spoon-shaped while it is thin and sharp in the case of the wax hook.

Other methods of removing nasal foreign bodies:

• Earlier, an instrument called the Eustachian catheter, one end of which is slightly bent, was used to hook out the foreign body.
• Using the endoscope and endoscopic instruments.
• In very small and uncooperative children, the foreign body is better removed under general anesthesia.

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