Endoscopic retrieval of a surgical gauze from the right colon

Abstract

A 33-year-old man, who had been operated on a congenital bridle 14 years ago, was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of a 3 month recurrent abdominal pain. CT scan and colonoscopy were performed in another medical centre, in which a chronic inflammatory process surrounding a foreign body was described in the right colon. He was referred to our endoscopy unit, as a tertiary reference hospital, in order to evaluate its extraction. During the endoscopic procedure was visualized a surgical gauze wrapped to an inflammatory intestinal mucosa (with edema and friability) and externalized to the colon lumen (Fig. 1.). Using an endoscopic grasping forceps it was slowly removed until its complete extraction, with a 60 cm total length (Fig. 2.). It revealed a fistulous orifice (Fig. 3) which was communicated with a cavity, without any evidence of active haemorrhage. He had a good clinical evolution and outcome; no more episodes of abdominal pain were referred. A control CT scan was performed 3 months later, which showed slight residual inflammatory changes. It is not unusual to find surgical foreign bodies after a surgical intervention (1,2). They are usually symptomatic; presenting PICTURES IN DIGESTIVE PATHOLOGY