title: Sonographic appearance of a retained surgical sponge after thyroidectomy: report of three cases.
abstract: Although a number of cases of retained surgical sponge (RSS) after thoracic and abdominal surgery have been reported in the literature, the occurrence of RSS after thyroidectomy is very rare. We report the imaging findings of three cases of RSS after thyroidectomy. Sonography of the three patients revealed a hyperechoic mass with marked acoustic shadow. Computed tomography showed a well-defined, circumscribed heterogeneous mass that had gas bubbles inside in two patients, whereas the mass in the third patient was hyperdense and homogenous with smooth margins. All three RSSs were surgically removed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Ondokuz Mayis, Faculty of Medicine, Samsun, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet Veysel
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Polat
authors.forename: Umit
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Belet
authors.forename: Ramazan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015503:Surgical Sponges; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: computed tomography; foreign bodies; neck; retained surgical sponge; ultrasonography