Learning from errors
Retained surgical swab following breast augmentation: a rare cause of a breast mass
1 University Hospital of Wales, Academic Department of Surgery, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XW, UK
2 Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XW, UK
3 Department of Histopathology, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XW, UK
Correspondence to:
dr_bpbaruah{at}hotmail.com
Retained surgical swab or sponge following surgery is an uncommon finding seen most commonly following abdominal and pelvic procedures. Reports of such lesions in the breast are particularly rare with only two previously published cases. We report here the first case of a retained swab following breast augmentation where unique diagnostic problems are encountered because of the presence of implants. This case shows that a retained swab should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any postoperative breast mass and highlights that ignoring the fundamental principles of any surgical procedure can cause serious complications.
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
- Full Text
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full text of all Editor's Choice articles and summaries of every article are free without registration
The full text of Images in ... articles are free to registered users
Only fellows can access the full text of case reports (apart from Editor's Choice) - become a fellow today, or encourage your institution to, so that together we can grow and develop this resource
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the case reports as they are published, and let us know what you think by commenting on the Editor's blog
