Gossypiboma- manifesting as a diagnostic puzzle

ABSTRACT

The term gossypiboma indicates a mass of cotton that is missed accidently in the body after surgery. Accidental retention of any foreign body usually requires another surgery and increases the morbidity and mortality. We here report a 20 year old female who presented with lower abdominal pain, vomiting and constipation. She had a history of previous two cesarean sections; last one was performed one year back in another country. On the basis of history and examination the diagnosis of intestinal obstruction was made. Exploratory laparotomy was done and resection anastomosis of terminal ileum was performed. When resected part was opened, a gauze piece was found and diagnosis of gossypiboma made. Although the intraluminal migration of retained surgical gauze has been reported but complete intraluminal migration without leaving any scar is very rare. In spite the fact that gossypiboma is rare, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intestinal obstruction in patients who has previous history of laparotomy