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Patient Safety in Surgery
Published in: Patient Safety in Surgery 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Case report

Transmigration of a retained surgical sponge: a case report

Authors: Tushar Patial, Namit Rathore, Angesh Thakur, Digvijay Thakur, Kanika Sharma

Published in: Patient Safety in Surgery | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

A retained surgical sponge remains a dreaded complication of modern surgery. Despite the increasing focus on patient safety instances of “a sponge being left in the abdomen”, are all too common in popular media. In this article we report the rare phenomenon of transmigration of a retained surgical sponge in a patient who underwent laparoscopic sterilization.

Case presentation

A 30-year-old female presented with progressive abdominal pain for about one month and vomiting with obstipation for 2 days. The patient had undergone laparoscopic sterilization 7 years back and then underwent re-canalization one year back. She underwent an exploratory laparotomy for suspected adhesive small bowel obstruction. During surgery, an intra-luminal surgical sponge was recovered from the distal small bowel. The patient recovered and was discharged in good health.

Conclusion

Despite numerous advances in terms of technology and the ever-growing emphasis on patient safety, the problem of a retained surgical sponge remains a dreaded potential complication. All clinicians and health care professionals should be aware of this entity and its various presentations.
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Metadata
Title
Transmigration of a retained surgical sponge: a case report
Authors
Tushar Patial
Namit Rathore
Angesh Thakur
Digvijay Thakur
Kanika Sharma
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Patient Safety in Surgery / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1754-9493
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13037-018-0168-y

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