He has had some drainage from his ear and it has a foul odor. Children sometimes stick things in their ears or sometimes bath water gets trapped in their and grows bacteria. I am an elementary school teacher and see quite a few children who have had tubes put in their ears. I assume that this requires surgery. Under general anesthesia, the surgeon places a tiny tube, which looks like a tiny bobbin through the ear drum.
Tubes generally stay in place for one to three months and fall out on their own.
Recently, CO2 laser myringotomies have become an office procedure. No tube is placed , just a tiny hole is made. This is a newer procedure but has advantages. It can be done in the office , with just a local anesthetic, sitting on mom's lap and gradually closes up in four weeks. I mean, It seems like a lot of children with tube history has slower speech development as a result.