A foreign body (gossypiboma) in pregnancy: first report of a case

The technical name for a surgical sponge left in the body of a patient is inadvertent “gossypiboma.” The word is derived from the Latin word Gossypium for cotton and from the Kiswahili word boma for “place of concealment.” These retained sponges were first seen as “textilomas,” but were renamed “gossypiboma” in 1978. The first case was reported by Wilson in 1884. These are rarely are retrieved in the literature, because of legal complications. A higher incidence of retained laparotomy sponges has been reported in association with gynecological procedures. We report a case of gossypiboma in the 38th week of pregnancy that imitated an ovary neoplasm.