Surgical gauze pseudotumor

Gauze forgotten at operations can be potentially life threatening, but such cases are seldom reported because of the medicolegal implications. We have presented a series of seven patients with long-term surgical gauze retention, four after pelvic operations, one after cholecystectomy, one after laryngectomy, and one after mastectomy. The median time interval between operation and gauze removal was 5 years. In three patients this was diagnosed as a tumoral mass, in three as an intestinal occlusion, and in one the gauze was found incidentally. All foreign bodies were removed and no patient died. The clinical and diagnostic aspects of retained surgical gauze have been discussed and the need for radiopaque markers in them have been emphasized.