Delayed intestinal obstruction from an unintentionally retained surgical gauze in a 24-year old woman two years after caesarean section: a case report

BACKGROUND: One of the most common surgical emergencies, intestinal obstruction is rarely the result of an inadvertently retained foreign object (also known as a gossypiboma), which may not present symptoms for a lifetime. It also carries additional legal burdens, which may account for the rarity of its reports. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a 24-year-old Sudanese female with a history of emergency Caesarean section two years before the admission presented with abdominal distension and absolute constipation, which was diagnosed as intestinal obstruction with a retained gauzed found within the small intestine. Moreover, a review of recent African-reported cases was done to find relatively similar cases. CONCLUSION: Adhering to the standard of care in surgical theaters and integrating new methods of prevention like tagged gauze could help to decrease the rate of such cases in the future.