Every year, about 6000 US patients have surgical tools left inside them!

Yay health care system. Thousands patients every year in America take a little souvenir home from their surgery. Occasionally, we hear about forceps, clamps, and hardware showing up in X-Rays but generally these are not the problem. Most of the time, it’s the gauzy, cotton sponges used for soaking up fluids that doctors leave in their patients.

The consequences of this are not pretty. Many patients suffer for months or years from pain, digestive problems, etc. Before anyone notices. But usually, by the time the doctor’s little mistake is picked up on, an infection has already formed. The complications from these infections can and often do last a lifetime. Some people lose parts of their intestines, others their lives.

Yet despite all this, thousands of hospitals and surgical centers have failed to adopt technologies that will eliminate the risk of leaving sponges in their patients.

(Source)