Intestinal Obstruction Due to Retained, Eroding Surgical Sponge: A Case Report

Abstract

ABSTRACT.Gossypiboma is not an uncommon surgical complication but it is rarely reported mainly due to medico-legal problems. A case of a surgical sponge left in the peritoneal cavity at caesarean section eroded into the bowel and caused intestinal obstruction one year later is presented. She was treated with small bowel resection. Small bowel wall opened by enterotomy and sponge removed. A report of a correct sponge count in the operating room does not exclude the possibility of a retained surgical sponge. Certainly it is the responsibility of the surgeon to make sure that he did not leave any sponge behind. This issue will be discussed in this paper. The English literature was reviewed.

Transmural Migration of Retained Surgical Sponges into the Bowel after Caesarian Section : Case Series and Literature Review

“…We could retrieve only 25 cases of RSS after CS reported since 1989. Out of these cases only 13 migrations of RSS into the bowel Case Report Transmural migration Shakir Z Ibrahim-Elimam lumen were reported (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) . Seven of these migrations were into the ileum (Table 1).…”