Trick of the Trade: Pelvic speculum for peritonsillar abscess

Posted by Michelle Lin, MD on Mar 20, 2012

Peritonsillar abscess drainage in the ED continues to be one of my favorite procedures to perform. There are several tricks to increase your chances for a successful aspiration. One trick involves using a curved laryngoscope to help depress the tongue AND provide a bright light source.

What if you don’t have a laryngoscope readily available?

Trick of the Trade

Use a fiberoptically-lit, plastic pelvic speculum

Slide off the top of the plastic pelvic speculum
Attach the fiberoptic light source.
Use as a lighted tongue depressor!

Author information

Michelle Lin, MD

ALiEM Founder and CEO
Professor and Digital Innovation Lab Director
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of California, San Francisco

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Tags: ENT, procedure, Tricks of the Trade