title: Retained surgical sponge simulating a pancreatic mass.
abstract: An abdominal mass evaluated angiographically suggested either a carcinoma or a pseudocyst of the pancreas. Exploratory laparotomy revealed a cystic mass containing a surgical sponge left in the patient's abdomen during a surgical procedure 12 years previously. A review of the literature is included and complications caused by surgical foreign bodies and means of avoiding such complications are discussed.
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010179:Pancreas / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010181:Pancreatic Cyst / Q000175:diagnosis; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011859:Radiography; D013523:Surgical Equipment; D013997:Time Factors