Textiloma mimicking Crohn's disease in its features: A case report

Textiloma is a retained surgical item such as a sponge or gauze that is unintentionally left in the surgical field after the wound closure. Here, we present the first reported surgical gauze that penetrated the intestine, made a duodenal-ceca fistula and then stuck far away in the ileum. Mechanical obstruction didn't appear clinically or even in radiological investigations because of the fistula which provided the intestinal continuity.

We report a 34-year-old man with a previous abdominal interventions complained of cramping, frequent vomiting and presence of undigested food in stool. The frequency of the bowel movement increased recently. Endoscopies, radiological investigations and pathological findings figure out a duodenal-ceca fistula with nonspecific inflammatory tissues in the intestinal biopsy. When we performed the abdomen surgery, retained gauze in the ileum was taken out and the duodenal-ceca fistula was fixed.

Gauze or sponge that is forgotten in the surgical field called gossypiboma, textiloma, gauzoma or cottonoid. It could present with various complaints; as an acute or chronic problem, clear or ambiguous symptoms. It could reside in a space; extend across a gap, migrate through a tissue, or even make a fistula between lumina like in our case.

Textiloma could change pre-operative diagnosis, intra-operative techniques, postoperative follow-up plan and prognosis. This is the first report proves its ability to mimic inflammatory diseases that penetrate two different lumina and perform fistula. So it should be written in the list of any differential diagnosis when the patient has a previous procedure or surgery.