According to a New England Journal of Medicine study, surgical sponges make up nearly 70% of the surgical instruments unintentionally left in patients' bodies, totaling around 4,500 to 6,000 incidents a year. Labeled retained surgical items, sponges lodged in a person's body cause a condition named gossypiboma. Many patients with this condition experience bloating, discomfort, localized pain, and other symptoms. However, experts estimate that about two-thirds of these cases have serious outcomes, including significant infections and death. Also, surgical sponges can be hard to locate in the body because of their tiny size, irregular placement, and the similarity of blood-soaked medical sponges to other tissues. Another problem is a surgical team can use up to 100 surgical sponges in one major operation. Consequently, retained surgical items are a grievous problem the medical community is working to solve.