Objective: Gossypibomas(retained surgical sponge) are costly and avoidable medical errors,and they are usually under reported basically because of the medico-legal reasons.Cliniacal and laboratory features of abdominal gossypibomas mimick classical acute abdomen in some cases.This gives rise to a variety of clinical features and laboratory findings.In this article,we undertake a study of the common clinico-laboratory findings in some cases of abdominal gossypiboma. Method:Using various search engines as google scholar, medline,yahoo. Results: Abdominal gossypibomas are commoner in females, especially following emergency gynaeological surgeries. Abdominal pains, vomiting, abdominal distension, and intestinal obstruction are the common clinical presentations. Complicated cases lead to electrolyte imbalances, anaemia,malabsorption and weight loss. Conclusion: Retained surgical sponges should be considered as a differential diagnosis of abdominal symptoms in a patient who has had an abdominal surgery. Metabolic complications arising from abdominal symptoms should be thoroughly investigated with a background knowledge that abdominal gossypiboma can be a possibility.
Keywords: abdominal, clinoco-laboratory, gossypiboma, retain sponge
