Needle in a haystack: lost in transition

A lost needle during minimally invasive surgery is a cause of undue anxiety to the entire surgical team and also causes prolongation of surgical time. There is no literature reporting follow-up of any patient with needle left behind as they are considered as a 'never event' during a surgical procedure. Preventing such events needs vigilance on part of the surgeon and assistant. Here, we report a case of lost needle during performance of a robot-assisted nephron sparing surgery. The robot needed to be de-docked and converted to laparoscopy. After a thorough search, the needle was found to be lodged at an unusual place. A brief review of available literature is also provided alongside.