Prospective clinical trial registration: not sufficient, but always necessary

References 1. Curran J, Ward M, Knepil G. Reducing the risk of retained throat swabs after surgery. National Patient Safety Agency 2009; 1-12. http://www.nrls. npsa.nhs. uk/resources/? entryid45=59853 (accessed 30/10/2017). 2. NHS Improvement. Provisional publication of Never Events reported as occurring between 1 April and 31 July 2017. https://improvement.nhs. uk/upload s/documents/Never_Events_1_April_ 2017_-_31_July_2017. pdf (accessed 21/ 10/2017). 3. Moppett IK, Moppett SH. Surgical caseload and the risk of surgical Never Events in England. Anaesthesia 2016; 71: 17–30. 4. Pandit JJ. Deaths by horsekick in the Prussian army – and other ‘Never Events’ in large organisations. Anaesthesia 2016; 71: 7–11. 5. Smith M, Turnball D, Andrzejowski J. Throat packs in neuroanaesthesia. Anaesthesia 2012; 67: 804. 6. Bisase B, Matthews NS, Lan C. Current practice and opinions regarding the use of oropharyngeal throat packs in the United Kingdom. Journal of Patient Safety 2011; 7: 162–4. 7. Athanassoglou V, Patel A, McGuire B, et al. Systematic review of benefits or harms of routine anaesthetist-inserted throat packs in adults: practice recommendations for inserting and counting throat packs. Anaesthesia 2018; 73: 612–8. 8. Al-Lami A, Amonoo-Kuofi K, Kulloo P, Lakhani R, Prakash N, Bhat N. A study evaluating the effects of throat packs during nasal surgery: a randomised controlled trial. European Archives of Otorhinolarynogology 2017; 274: 3109–14. 9. Basha SI, McCoy E, Ullah R, Kinsella JB. The efficacy of pharyngeal packing during routine nasal surgery – a prospective randomised controlled study. Anaesthesia 2006; 61: 1161–5. 10. Tay JY, Tan WK, Chen FG, Koh KF, Ho V. Postoperative sore throat after routine oral surgery: influence of the presence of a pharyngeal pack. British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 2002; 40: 60–3. 11. Marais J, Prescott RJ. Throat pain and pharyngeal packing: a controlled randomized double-blind comparison between gauze and tampons. Clinical Otolaryngology and Allied Science 1993; 18: 426–9. 12. Fennessy BG, Mannion S, Kinsella JB, O’Sullivan P. The benefits of hypopharyngeal packing in nasal surgery: a pilot study. Irish Journal of Medical Science 2011; 180: 181–3. 13. El-Boghdadly K, Bailey CR, Wiles MD. Postoperative sore throat: a systematic review. Anaesthesia 2016; 71: 706–17. 14. Burden RJ, Bliss A. Residual throat pack – a further method of prevention? Anaesthesia 1997; 52: 806. 15. Baranger V, Bon MN, Dureuil B, Compere V. Human error in throat pack management; report of two cases. Anesthesia and Analgesia Case Reports 2016; 6: 397–8. 16. Smith AF, Carlisle J. Reviews, systematic reviews and Anaesthesia. Anaesthesia 2015; 70: 644–50. 17. Smith MA, Smith AF. Better names for ‘Never Events’. Anaesthesia 2016; 71: 601–2. 18. Litman RS, Maxwell LG. Cuffed versus uncuffed endotracheal tubes in pediatric anesthesia. Anesthesiology 2013; 118: 500–1. 19. To EWH, Tsang WM, Yiu F, Chan M. A missing throat pack. Anaesthesia 2001; 56: 383–4. 20. Gray H, Brett C, Worthington J. Retained throat packs represent a potentially catastrophic airway hazard. Anaesthesia and Intensive Care 2006; 34: 119–20.