A Case Report of Lung Abscess Caused by the Transdiaphragmtic Migration of a Forgotten Foreign Body in the Abdominal Cavity

Abstract

A 74-year-old woman who underwent cholecystectomy 35 years previously was admitted to our hospital because of cough and anemia. Chest X-ray demonstrated a large mass in the right lower lobe. Chest CT and MRI scans showed the mass to be lung abscess containing a gauze like structure. Fenestration and curettage were performed to wash the abscess cavity and to extract the gauze, because lobectomy appeared to be inadequate due to her poor pulmonary function. Three months after the operation when her general condition became stable, omentoplasty was performed and the chest wound was closed successfully. She is doing well without having recurrent lung abscess at this time. Sometimes we still encounter reports on surgeries required to remove forgotten gauze or migrated gauze after laparotomy. However, lung abscess due to transdiaphragmatic migration of gauze sponge left in the abdominal cavity is so rare that only five cases have been reported as far as we could review, and so our case is the sixth one in the world.