Sore throat is a common condition in primary care. As many as 1 in 10 people suffer recurrent episodes of tonsillitis. The cost per year to the NHS for primary care consultations, before investigation and treatment, for sore throats is estimated at 60 million pounds. It is also estimated that 35 million work and school days are lost in the UK per year because of sore throats.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BullP.Lecture notes on diseases of the ear, nose and throat, 9th edition (2002) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
2.
CorbridgeR.SteventonN.Oxford Handbook of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery (2006) Oxford: Oxford University Press ISBN 9780198564928.
3.
ENT UK. The British Association of Otorhinolaryngologists—Head and NeckSurgeons. www.entuk.org.
4.
Guidelines for the diagnosis of rheumatic fever. Jones Criteria, 1992 update. Special Writing Group of the Committee on Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease of the Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young of the American Heart Association. The Journal of the American Medical Association (1992) 268: p. 2069–73.
5.
HerzonF.S.HarrisP.Mosher Award thesis. Peritonsillar abscess: Incidence, current management practices, and a proposal for treatment guidelines. Laryngoscope (1995) 105 (8)1–17.
6.
KerrA.G.Scott-Brown's otorhinolaryngology: head and neck Surgery (1996) London: Hodder Arnold ISBN 978–0750619356.
7.
KvestadE.KvaernerK.J.RoysambE.Heritability of recurrent tonsillitis: Archives of recurrent tonsillitis. Archives of Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery (2005) 131: p. 383–387 Accessed via archotol.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/131/5/383 [date last accessed 25.09.2008].
8.
LittleP.WilliamsonI.Sore throat management in general practice. Family Practice (1996) 13 (3): p. 317–21 Accessed via fampra.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/13/3/317 [date last accessed 25.09.2008].
9.
LittleP.S.WilliamsonI.WarnerG.GouldC.GantleyM.KinmonthA.L.An open randomised trial of prescribing strategies for sore throat. British Medical Journal (1997) 314: p. 722 Accessed via www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/314/7082/722 [date last accessed 25.09.2008].
10.
NICE. Clinical guideline: Prescribing of antibiotics for self-limiting respiratory tract infections in adults and children in primary care (2008) Accessed via www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG69FullGuideline.pdf [date last accessed 25.09.2008].
Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. Management of sore throat and indications for tonsillectomy. SIGN Publication No. 34. 1999. Accessed via www.sign.ac.uk/guidelines/fulltext/34/index.html [date last accessed 25.09.2008].
15.
ShahU.K.Tonsillitis and peritonsillar abscess. eMedicine (2008). Accessed via www.emedicine.com/Ent/topic314.htm [date last accessed 25.09.2008].
16.
WethingtonJ.F.Double-blind study of benzydamine hydrochloride, a new treatment for sore throat. Clinical Therapeutics (1985) 7: 641–6.
17.
YoungR.StaffordD.ENT in focus (2005) ChurchillLivingston ISBN 978–0443100802.
