Care in theatre of a patient undergoing tonsillectomy

Mrs Smith, a 28-year-old married woman with two children, had suffered from repeated sore throats with varying degrees of dysphagia and voice loss. She occasionally worked as a club hostess and complained of hoarseness and sore throats after an evening's work. Because of the ongoing number of attacks she visited her GP who tried to find out when she would be admitted for her long-awaited tonsillectomy. There had been a delay in admission because Mrs Smith had not informed the hospital about a change of address. This now being known, it was arranged for her to be admitted within a month. She was admitted to the ear, nose and throat (ENT) ward 24 hours before her planned surgery. Previous hospital admissions had been for the birth of her two children who were staying with their grandmother while Mrs Smith was in hospital.