Throat swabs have no influence on the management of patients with sore throats.

BACKGROUND: Throat swabs are neither specific nor sensitive for micro-bacteria causing sore throat symptoms; however, current guidelines suggest they are still useful in some cases.

METHOD: Retrospective and prospective analyses were conducted of throat swabs requested within the months of January 2016 and August 2016, respectively.

RESULTS: The study comprised 247 patients. Fifty-nine (24 per cent) had a positive culture. Forty-six grew group A beta-haemolytic streptococci, with the remainder growing candida (n = 10), coliform (n = 1) and klebsiella (n = 2). There was no significant difference in culture rates between primary or secondary care sources (χ2 = 0.56, p = 0.45). None of the swabs influenced a variation in patient management from local antimicrobial policies. Current practice has an estimated annual financial impact of £3 434 340 on the National Health Service.

CONCLUSION: Throat swabs do not influence the antimicrobial treatment for patients with sore throats, even under current guidelines, and incur unnecessary cost. Current clinical guidelines could be reviewed to reduce the number of throat swabs being conducted unnecessarily.