Endoscopic removal of gossypiboma: a rare cause of gastric outlet obstruction.

Competing Interests: Disclosure A. Vareedayah is a consultant for Boston Scientific and CONMED. The other authors disclosed no financial relationships. Commentary “Gossypiboma” comes from the Latin gossypium (cotton) and oma—an elaborate way of describing the foreign body reaction to accidentally leftover surgical gauze or sponge after surgery. A rare but feared adverse event of surgical procedures, a retained foreign body is a “sentinel” safety event reportable to the Joint Commission. In this case, the foreign body had fistulized through the GI tract and caused gastric outlet obstruction. The foreign body was successfully removed by the authors, and no frank perforation was noted on an upper GI contrast study. It is hard to explain why the sponge fistulized into the GI tract in spite of its soft nature, but pressure effect is possibly the reason. A thorough count of surgical sponges and gauze before and after surgery remains the cornerstone approach to avoiding such serious adverse outcomes. Fares Ayoub, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA Amy Tyberg, MD, FASGE, FACG, Associate Editor for Focal Points