Textiloma complicating myomectomy: A case report

Introduction and importance: Textiloma or gossypiboma is a rare complication of pelvic surgery. It can mimic both, clinically, and radiologically an abscess, or a tumor, thus, making its diagnosis difficult and late. It can lead to a high morbidity and mortality rate for the patient and engages the surgeon's civil liability.

Case presentation: We report a case of textiloma following a myomectomy in a 42 year old patient treated in our department. Textiloma was diagnosed three years after myomectomy. Treatment consisted of a second laparotomy to remove the textiloma without complication.

Discussion: Incidence of textiloma varies from 1/833 to 1/32.672 but more often encountered in African surgical practice. Systematic counts of instruments, sponges and needles is not yet usual in our operating room. Through the analysis of this case, we call on surgeons to be more vigilant in order to avoid this serious medical error.

Conclusion: The aim of this study was to describe the intraoperative errors that led to the occurrence of the textiloma, depict the diagnostic difficulties of textiloma, and the medico-legal implications in a tertiary hospital in Niger.