ABSTRACT
A 79-year-old man visited our clinic complaining of lower back and left leg radiating pain that began 1 month prior to his presentation. He underwent surgery for lumbar disc herniation 20 years ago at another hospital. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed left-sided foraminal stenosis at L4-5. In addition, a paraspinal mass occupying the L4 spinous process and left lamina was observed. We subsequently performed an L4-5 decompression and fusion. During the operation, retained surgical gauze with granulation tissue was found. The term gossypiboma is used to define a mass lesion consisting of retained surgical gauzes and an adjacent foreign body reaction. Gossypibomas are uncommon in the paraspinal area and are mostly asymptomatic in chronic cases. Because there are no specific clinical or radiological signs, they can be confused with other tumorous conditions. Gossypibomas should be included in the differential diagnosis of paraspinal soft-tissue masses detected in patients with a history of prior spinal surgery.
Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Young Adult , Constriction, Pathologic , Decompression , Diagnosis, Differential , Foreign Bodies , Foreign-Body Reaction , Granulation Tissue , Leg , Magnetic Resonance ImagingABSTRACT
Paraspinal or extremity foreign-body reactions are a rare disease, which could be caused by foreign bodies to prevent intraoperative bleeding and can result in severe complications or death. However, they are often neglected. We report three cases of paraspinal and parapelvic gossypiboma mimicking a soft tissue tumor on magnetic resonance imaging, which were diagnosed and treated by surgical excision.