Retained Surgical Sponge (Gossypiboma) Causing Small Bowel Obstruction & Peritonitis: A Case Report

Retained intra-peritoneal foreign bodies (FBs) are under reported due to medico legal implications [1–5]. Despite standard care before, during & after surgical procedures, surgical objects are still occasionally left behind in the peritoneal cavity. The commonest retained FBs are surgical sponges [1]. This may be due to its frequent usage, small pliable size and amorphous structure [2]. Gossypiboma, textiloma and cottonoid are synonym words, but Gossypiboma defined as a mass composed of cotton matrix retained within human body is the most commonly used term [1,5].