Symptoms | Clinical appearance of inadvertently retained sponges and instruments | Differential diagnosis |
---|---|---|
Infection | Infection at the surgical site with fever, pain and sepsis | Wound infection of other origin, pneumonia, infection of the catheter, urinary tract infection |
Acute pain | Acute pain, becoming more extensive, often accompanied by fever and infection | Wound pain, postoperative hemorrhage |
Chronic pain | Chronic pain persisting after the intervention without any other correlate | Adhesions, nerve damage |
Tumor | Unspecific tumor mass around the surgical site | Coagulum, tumor of other origin, adhesions |
Fistulization | Fistulization with suspected material of no natural origin | Fistulization because of disturbed wound healing, infection, or fistulization due to other causes |
Obstruction | Obstruction because of fistulization or swelling of the retained object | Tumor of other origin, adhesions |
Hemorrhage | Gastrointestinal, vaginal, or urinary hemorrhage because of fistulization | Ulcer, tumor |