It sounds like something you only see on sitcoms: a surgeon leaves a foreign object inside a patient when he or she is stitched up during a surgery. In actuality, leaving items inside of bodies after surgery does happen. The New England Journal of Medicine published a study on this subject and found shocking results. About 1,500 Americans have objects left inside them post-surgery every year. When viewed in light of the fact that 28.4 million men and women undergo operations every year in the United States, the amount of left behind objects seems small. Still, the study proved that this is a real concern and it does happen.

All sorts of surgical instruments can be forgotten inside the body, from something semi-harmless like a sponge to a dangerous tool like scissors or a needle. Regardless of the danger of the foreign object, the body will naturally react with pain and illness as it attempts to get rid of the material. The most common item left in the body post-surgery is a surgical sponge, which is used to mop of blood during an operation. When these sponges are wet, they can resemble parts of the body and be hard to isolate. Sometimes a doctor may not even notice that the sponge is there. To keep these types of mistakes from happening, nurses are supposed to count the amount of sponges at the beginning and end of the surgery. If they fail to complete this monotonous procedure, it may result in leaving a sponge behind in the body cavity. If you are scheduled for a surgery, specifically ask your doctor to make sure that a sponge count is conducted so that you will not suffer from this mistake.

While most often it is only small objects that are left inside the body, larger objects can be left too. In one case, a woman was sewn up with a piece of a fetal heart monitor still inside her abdomen after undergoing a cesarean section. Another man was X-rayed and doctors discovered a seven-inch clamp inside his body. In a similar case, a 13-inch retractor was discovered in man's abdomen. In the New England Journal of Medicine study, researchers looked into the cases of 54 patients who filed medical malpractice claims. They found that 37 of these patients had sponges inside of them, 13 had retractors or electrodes, and 4 had a clamp. In almost every case the patient had to undergo an additional surgery to remove the product.

According to the study, it isn't always the doctor's fault that an item was sewn up in the person. Most often the mistakes happen despite the fact that the medical team is following proper procedure. This is especially true in emergency surgeries, where doctors need to be fast and may be flustered. The study found that emergency surgery increases the possibility of a left-behind object by 900 percent. Also, if within a surgery there is a deviation in planned procedure, this may cause doctors and nurses to be forgetful and lose track of where they have placed their materials. These types of mistakes are most common in surgeries which focus on the abdominal or pelvic areas.

Many doctors can lose their job over such a serious blunder. These foreign objects can be severely damaging to the health of the patient. In fact, leaving a foreign object inside a body can cause infection and a blockage of organ functions. When a sharp object like a needle is left inside the body, it can create organ or external puncture wounds. According to Joint Commission Resources, patients with a higher body-mass index are at an increased risk to retained surgical instruments. Doctors do not take this situation lightly. According to the president at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, it is a major blemish on the surgeon both psychologically and career-wise. If you have been the victim of a retained foreign object post-surgery, then you need to contact a medical malpractice attorney. You should be compensated for the pain and suffering you have received because of the negligence of medical professionals.