Gossypiboma, cottonoid or textiloma, are the common terms used for the cotton or woven fabric which is incidentally left behind in a body cavity during surgery. Gossypiboma is a serious complication which is rarely reported because of its medicolegal issues. The cases of retained surgical sponges are most commonly diagnosed intra-abdominally but they can also be diagnosed in the spine, thorax, breast, central nervous system, and extremities. Gossypiboma has a variable presentation, and it is difficult to diagnose. They can lead to an inflammatory reaction, secondary infection or abscess formation in acute cases. A foreign body usually remains asymptomatic for a long duration, and later it may present with intestinal obstruction, mass formation, peritonitis or fistulisation[1]. It has also been reported to migrate transmurally into adjacent hollow viscous. We are reporting two cases of migrating Gossypiboma presenting with obstructive symptoms. The first case is a 56-year-old female patient who was admitted with pain abdomen, with nausea and vomiting. She had a history of open cholecystectomy four months back and was detected to have a retained surgical sponge which had migrated into the stomach transmurally and was diagnosed by imaging and confirmed during surgical exploration. The second case was a 36-year-old female admitted with pain in the abdomen for the past 2 weeks which was associated with vomiting. She had undergone dilatation and curettage following misconception six months back followed by a surgical procedure. The retained surgical sponge was diagnosed in the ileum by imaging and confirmed during exploratory laparotomy.
Key words: Retained Surgical Sponge (RSS), Gossypiboma, Foreign bodies
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