Grommet experts please...post op concerns

[upjacobscreekwithoutapaddle]

DS, 2, had grommets in both ears on mon. His right ear is crusted with blood and is obviously VERY, very tender. The ear drops (Sofradol sp?) we were given are not 'sinking' into the right ear, obviously pooling in front of the gunk/congealed blood (sorry).

I took him to the gp this morning who wasn't really sure what the problem is so I called the childrens day unit where he had the op for advice. I was told by the sister in charge that blood could indicate an infection so I needed to be seen by ENT or a&e, naturally I couldn't get hold of ENT so duly traipsed to a&e. The paediatrician there again was unsure if there was a problem, she consulted a senior Dr but was also unable to contact ENT. She said there were blood clots and congealing blood and he was extremely distressed when she tried to look. She did not seem to think there was any outward signs of infection and has basically sent us home with the instructions to come back if he spikes a temp or stops eating. But obviously I am loathe to be going back there over the Easter weekend. She has also messaged ENT to request an urgent follow up. I'm worried about infection/risk to hearing.

Any advice?

Hi, my son had this after his grommets op. The afternoon after the op he had blood pooling in his ear and as fast as I tried to clear it it was filling up again. I took him to our gp who sent us straight to A+E as she was also unsure what was going on. We were kept in over night for observation, they think it stemmed from him having an ear infection when having the op apparently it's quiet common and the blood was not just blood but mixed with glue which takes several days to drain away in severe cases. We were given ear drops and oral antibiotics just to be safe and was reviewed a couple of weeks later by the ent surgeon who said he had made a full recovery and his next hearing test was perfect. Unfortunately we have just been back and the grommets are sitting in his ear canal and the glue ear is back but this is 9 mths later so expected I suppose. I don't think I will have anymore grommets fitted tho I think this time we are going to go for hearing aids as I don't want to put him through the op again.

We had this with ds3,2.5 yrs at the time. Took him to a&e and we're given out patient app next day for ENT, ENT cleaned out what gunk they could on ward as day patient so drops could get to site of infection, ours was infection too, I think paramaribo is right bout it being common post op, if you are worried you should go back to hospital though, we had number for children's ward, could they advise? In our experience the GP doesn't know enough about ears, only a specialist can really advise imo

Thanks both, it was the children's ward that advised a&e, we are part of a large hospital trust so unfortunately no ent staff were on the site yesterday and as it's the long weekend we are looking at a few days wait now. The ear seems less er, crusty, sorry for description, today and he is happy enough as long as we don't touch it! He is eating and temp normal so will keep an eye and take him back to a&e if necessary.

hello, hope you don't think I'm hijacking but I think you folk may have experience that I lack.
I started a thread yesterday about my ds1 and I wonder if people who reply are only reading the title because they are telling me to take him to A&E.

GP is aware of both the infection & subsequent bleeding, he has antibiotic syrup, no temp. but acute hearing loss (which GP said was expected due to infection). fwiw he only complained of hearing loss after the bleeding started. He's in a better way than he has been for a couple of days so seems to be on the mend. What is your experience of ear infections like this? I want to do what's best for him but am loathe to lurk for hours in A&E on Easter weekend only to be told I'm worrying too much.

Fries - my only experience of a ear infection like this happened whilst my ds had his grommets in (so no ear drum) he had a 3 week long ear infection with hearing loss and bleeding but no temp. The gunk was dripping off his ear lobes at times! Our gp took swabs of the gunk to check he was on the correct antibiotic. We had oral antibiotics and sofradex ear drops. His nursery described him a distant and unable to concentrate. It sounds as though your ds ear drum has perforated and the infection is draining away. His hearing should return to normal as the ears clear as hearing loss with a nasty infection seems to be a common symptom. I don't want to advise you not to go to A&E as its your child but I would pop him back to the gp next week if its not cleared asking for swabs. I hope this is some use to you!!

Thanks for replying Paramara ,I will take him to A&E tomorrow as he only has oral antibiotics at the moment, though he does seem much better in himself, apart from finding the deafness a bit frightening and upsetting.

The blood & gunk was dripping off ds1's earlobes on day 1 (wed) but there was just a little on the pillow last night. He had a history of glue ear at nursery and distant/unable to concentrate would be a fair description of him, the phrase 'in a world of his own' is often used. I thought his previous hearing issues had resolved but perhaps not. I'm beginning to doubt myself as this current problem seemed to start literally overnight on Tues. but must have been brewing for much longer.

Fries- how did you get on at A+E? My ds has started with another ear infection today so have been to ooh gp to start some more drops and antibiotics. I feel so sorry for him ear ache is so miserable.

Hi Para
It was a bit of a wait but I'm glad I went. ds saw an ENT who confirmed that the previous bleeding was through the eardrum and there is still blood behind both drums ( I guess the perforation was small and has healed or it would still be draining.) His current antibiotics are doing what they need to do and at least the pain has stopped. Dp had constant earaches as a child and tells me the pain is pretty grim.

ENT also prescribed nasal spray to help speed the drain from that side of the drum and mentioned that chewing gum can be helpful. So we'll give that a go and see if it helps the blood drain and restores his hearing. I'm having to write everything down for ds at the moment, or speak loudly up close to his ear so I'm glad we're in Easter holidays because school would be a nightmare.

ENT also arranged for follow up hearing test in just over a week to check progress which was my biggest concern. I worry that a boy who already tends to live in his own head (has been that way since glue ear when very little) could become even more isolated/overlooked.