BOWEL OBSTRUCTION FROM COMPLETE TRANSMURAL MIGRATION OF A GOSSYPIBOMA INTO THE ILEUM; A RARE OCCURRENCE

Gossypibomas are infrequent abdominal pathology associated with increased morbidity and mortality. They are foreign bodies of predominantly cotton material that are erroneously left in body cavities following surgery. They represent an extremely rare but avoidable cause of bowel obstruction and should be considered as a differential diagnosis in patients presenting with Bowel obstruction following previous abdominal surgery. We present the case of a young woman with clinical features in keeping with mechanical bowel obstruction from suspected post-operated adhesion. However, intra-operative finding revealed a complete transmural migration of a Gossypiboma into the terminal ileum. She had segmental ileal resection, extraction of the gossypiboma and primary end-to-end ileo-ileal anastomosis. Her recovery period was uneventful. Keywords; Anastomosis, Bowel obstruction, Gossypiboma, laparotomy