Retained sponge after abdominal surgery: experience from a third world country
| Autor: | Arthur Essomba, Alain Chichom Mefire, Robert Tchounzou, Marcus Fokou, Marc Leroy Guifo, J. J. Pagbe, E.E. Malonga |
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| Rok vydání: | 2010 |
| Předmět: |
medicine.medical_specialty
Gossypiboma medicine abdomina lcsh:R5-920 biology business.industry Third world lcsh:Public aspects of medicine Incidence (epidemiology) Surgical Sponges Life Sciences lcsh:RA1-1270 General Medicine biology.organism_classification medicine.disease Abdominal mass Surgery Sponge abdominal Medicine medicine.symptom lcsh:Medicine (General) business OBSTETRICAL PROCEDURES gossypiboma Abdominal surgery |
| Zdroj: | Pan African Medical Journal; Vol 2, No 1 (2009) The Pan African Medical Journal, Vol 2, Iss 10 (2009) The Pan African medical journal |
| ISSN: | 1937-8688 |
| DOI: | 10.4314/pamj.v2i1.51709 |
| Popis: | Background: Retained abdominal sponge after surgery is a quite rare condition which can have heavy medico-legal consequences; its frequency is generally underestimated. Few reports of these conditions are available in African environment with specific technical and medico-legal background. We present our local experience of retained sponges after abdominal surgery and review current literature. Methods: A retrospective analysis of the medical files of 14 consecutive patients with a retained surgical sponge after abdominal and urological surgery. Results: The incidence was 1every 677 abdominal operations; no metallic foreign body described, only sponges; the female sex predominated with 10/14 patients. 85.71% of retained sponge occurred after an emergency procedure and 64.28% were gynecological or obstetrical procedures. Most cases presented as intestinal obstruction, localized persistent pain or abdominal mass and pre-operative diagnosis could be done only in 28.57% of cases. A falsely correct sponge count was reported in 71.42% of cases. 92.85% of patients were re-operated and the morbidity was low; no death was reported. None of our cases ended in a medico-legal claim despite proper counseling. Conclusion: The incidence of retained sponge might be significantly higher in an environment with reduced medico-legal threat; most cases of retained sponges are still related to human errors; the incidence will probably be reduced by a greater awareness about the condition. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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