Retained sponge after abdominal surgery: experience from a third world country

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.

A retrospective analysis of the medical files of 14 consecutive patients with a retained surgical sponge after abdominal and urological surgery.

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.

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.