Sponges are porous, which means that if they are left in a body, they can calcify over time, leading doctors to mistake them for tumors years after an operation. Port says patients go to doctors as adults with an infection only to discover they retained gauze inside their body from a childhood operation.

Although surgical equipment is counted before and after each operating procedure, RF Surgical's Port estimates that "10 percent of counts after a complex operation are incorrect," and often solved by rummaging through mounds of blood-soaked sponges and gauze. "About 1 percent of all cases require an X-ray, which means waiting between 30 and 40 minutes for a technician to put on the correct attire and bring in a portable machine into the operating room to look for lost items,"

Sponges-Gauze Products