Single-use tonsillectomy kits arrive peacemeal in UK
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The first batch of single-use tonsillectomy kits has arrived in Wales, seven months after the National Assembly - together with the rest of the UK - adopted precautionary measures aimed at minimising the risk of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). The move (see Clinica No 940, pp 1-2) responded to advice issued by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee in September 2000, amid doubts surrounding the effectiveness of the sterilisation of devices used in common high-risk procedures, namely tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.