Over the years, I have seen sharps bins used for a variety of purposes, for collecting sharps and related wastes but also as an impromptu flower vase both on a hospital ward and in a GP surgery, for paperclips, as a paint kettle, an ice bucket for cold drinks on a hot afternoon, and as a small holder for a collection of elastic bands (that last one is in my own office, and a very handy it is too!).

Larger bins have been upturned and used as a substitute for those A-frame wet floor hazard signs to identify spillages in a hospital corridor, and in the normal upright position as holders for files and related papers. With their ubiquity in the healthcare environment and diversity of shapes and sizes, there may be untold uses for these bins, almost every one unintended by the manufacturer!

Now the surgeons are getting in on the act, using a sharps bin in clinical practice to provide a convenient weight holder providing lower limb traction for a patient with a broken pelvis or leg.

As the authors explain, filled with water the bin provides flexibility in getting the required amount of traction in circumstances where the more conventional metal weights and holder may be unavailable.

An answer perhaps to yet more NHS cuts?

Can you add a new use for a sharps bin? Please add a comment, below.

Kazi HA, Thomas TG. Use of a sharps bin to provide lower limb traction. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2012 Jul;94(5):360