Pen allowed as surgical probe (6)

I believe the answer is:

stylet

'surgical probe' is the definition.

'pen allowed' is the wordplay.
'pen' becomes 'sty' (sty is a kind of pen).
'allowed' becomes 'let' (I've seen this before).
'sty'+'let'='STYLET'

'as' acts as a link.

(Another definition for stylet that I've seen is " probe".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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