Retained surgical bodies in a patient postop is not an unfamiliar occurrence.

One literature review indicated that with more than 28 million operations in the U.S. nationwide, 1,500 estimated cases per year of retained surgical bodies left in patients take place.

In the 2016 case of Thompson v. Mangham Home Care, Inc., who left gauze in a patient’s surgical wound was at issue.

The patient saw her primary care physician for boils/sores on both of her buttocks in 2008.

The primary doctor prescribed antibiotics without success, and the patient was referred to a general surgeon who treated the condition with antibiotics and warm soaks.