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Intrapulmonary foreign body: sponge retained for 43 years

F H Taylor¹, R W Zollinger, T A Edgerton

¹Department of Thoracic Surgery, Mercy Hospital, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Journal of Thoracic Imaging

|January 1, 1994

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A retained surgical sponge was discovered in a patient's lung 43 years after a thoracotomy, causing intermittent hemoptysis. This case highlights the long-term risks of retained surgical items.

Area of Science:

Thoracic surgery
Medical malpractice
Patient safety

Background:

A patient underwent a left thoracotomy surgery 43 years prior.
Following the surgery, the patient experienced recurrent episodes of hemoptysis (coughing up blood).

Observation:

A subsequent thoracotomy was performed due to persistent hemoptysis.
The surgical exploration revealed an intrapulmonary foreign body, specifically a retained surgical sponge, located in the left lower lobe of the lung.

Findings:

The retained surgical sponge was identified as the cause of the patient's long-standing hemoptysis.
The foreign body had remained undetected within the lung for over four decades.

Implications:

This case underscores the critical importance of meticulous surgical counts and postoperative imaging to prevent retained surgical items.

Related Experiment Videos

It highlights the potential for significant patient harm and the legal liability associated with such medical errors.

The prolonged interval between the initial surgery and the discovery of the foreign body emphasizes the need for vigilance in long-term patient follow-up.