If a surgeon or a member of a surgical team is careless or negligent, this can lead to a foreign object being left in the patient’s body cavity after the procedure ends. Negligence refers to the failure to adhere to the standard of care required by medical professionals, also known as malpractice.
A retained foreign object can refer to a surgical instrument, sponge, cotton ball, catheter, needle, towel or another object used during the operation being left inside of the patient’s body when the incision is sutured shut. It can also refer to pieces of a medical instrument that broke off and are floating inside of the patient.
Leaving any foreign object behind can have serious effects on a patient's health, including infections and organ damage. Patients who suffer from foreign objects being left behind often report symptoms such as pain in the affected area, bowel obstructions, and fever from infection or sepsis.
Victims of this type of malpractice often need revision surgeries to remove the foreign object and repair any damage that the object caused. In the most severe cases, a patient with a retained foreign object can pass away due to related complications.