Where have you lost a sponge?

[sm9796]

One of the scrub teams had an incorrect count this week. They found the sponge (or raytec as we call it in Aus) in the set up room. This sparked a discussion in the tearoom about places we'd lost and found sponges. Some of the places mentioned were under shoes, under dishes, inside quivers (cylindrical container used to hold diathermy pencils, lap graspers, etc).

Where have you lost and found a sponge or other countable item?

[JOURNEYDL]

Found a lap in a surgeons glove in the trash!!! All balled up in his gown. Was told by x ray that he does that to get the room in an uproar. Now how safe is that idiot.!!

[Libitina]

As above, in the surgeons assistants glove that was in the rubbish. Bawled him out for that one as he should know better!

[BridgetJones]

Now I know where to look first if a count is off!

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Cottonoid strip on a crani. Never did find it. Went through the trash, through the drapes, even checked the suction filter. Brought in a c-arm and checked every angle possible- no sign of it. The worst was a hemostat on a cystectomy patient. Surgeon insisted it wasn't in the patient. Post-closure x-ray- there it was. Had to reopen, take it out, and start closing again. Fortunately the patient wasn't woken up.

[SandraCVRN]

We had a female gyn that had a raytec stuck to the bottom of her shoe. She found it when she got back to her office in an attached building. I was not the circulator in this case, I know to check shoes.

Also, right before I started here we had a lap somehow under the pt so it showed in the x-ray, pt opened, can't find it............. we all check under the pt now before x-ray.

Just the other day couldn't find a 6-0 vicryl, one scrub didn't tell the other the needle was attached, so the string was dropped if the "sterile trash bucket" still on the field. So count wrong, then the arguement about not telling the 2nd scrub a needle was on the string. Hunted and hunted, the person that put it in the bucket keeps saying I know I put the suture in this bucket, looking and looking, almost finished with the case, x-ray notified (knowing full well that 6-0 will not show up but ready to follow P&P) start to move the ring stand back that is holding the bucket and find this tiny blue vicryl lay in the tiniest fold in the drape................

[mcmike55]

First off,,,,,I have got to say,,, sm9796,,I LOVE the terms that you use!!

I want to change our lounge into a tea room.......and I am going to try to use the word Quiver for the holster for our bovie. I Love it!!!

Anyway, two sponges I can remember, lost....no...temporarily misplaced

A Raytec in the back of the throat during a tonsil, found it by doing a direct laryngoscopy.

Also had trouble locating a regular gauze 4x4 while putting on a pelvic external fixator.

Rarely had done one of these, and with it only being a stab incision, we figured no problem...WRONG.

Thank goodness we did count them first, when we couldn't account for one, we figured it was in the incision. Doc of course, said no way, but the tech wouldn't give up and found it tucked in the corner of one of these tiny incisions!!

We did a laparoscopy on a lady with pelvic pain one time,,,there was a shiny Kelly clamp if I remember, you could see the hospital's name (not our) stamped right on the side!! Left in there following a C-Section a couple years earlier.

Never say "we can't lose that!"

Mike

[TammyCNOR]

We had a difficult time locating a raytec in a spinal nerve stimulator case. Lots of wires on the generator portion made it questionable if we were seeing wires or the threads. We had the sales rep bring in an unopened generator, we xray'd it and bingo... those weren't wires! So glad we kept looking! The Dr had closed and actually broke scrub to write orders in PACU certainly not believing we were missing a sponge.

[MereSanity]

We have a Dr that likes to hide them under his foot during the count. I think he does it to be difficult, or funny, but difficult seems more like his personality.

[goats'r'us, ASN, RN]

behind the liver.

conversation goes like this:

me: do you still have a pack inside? We're one short.

doctor: no, I definately took them all out.

*count again*

me: are you sure? I saw you put three in, and I only got two back.

doctor: no, *superficial feel around abdomen*, it's not in here.

me: (to circ. nurse) ok, can you check the bins?

circ. Nurse: heavy sigh

*retidy and recount again, talking to self quietly*

*two to five minutes pass*

doctor: did you find that pack yet?

me: no

me: *to circ. nurse* could you call xray?

*surgeon, knowing that this will add extra time to the case when they really want a coffee, performs more thorough check of now half-closed abdomen*

*slight, telling beat of silence*

surgeon: I've found it! it was behind the liver!

me: again. sigh.

my proudest mystery solving moment was in a neuro case, where we lost a 1/2x1/2 patty. checked EVERYWHERE! in head, on drapes, in fluid collection pouch, on trolley, on floor, under shoes, in bins, opened and recounted all the passed off items, were completely out of ideas till... Maybe it's in the sucker canister!

Sure enough, there it was, floating benignly.

Sucker tubing had gotten blocked mid case, scrub took the sucker tip off and forced some saline through to clear it, then sucked up some more from her bowl for good luck, and sucked up a patty she had in the bowl!

[Mr. & Mrs. RN]

In a bag full of poop (and other things like gowns and gloves) that we had tied and bagged multiple times from a perf bowel case. Then we had to dig it out after we had the smell somewhat contained and put it in the counter:barf01:

[Scrubby]

The other day we took out a lap sponge that had been left in for 8 years. The amazing thing was how intact the sponge was, it hadn't deteriorated at all.

Throughout the entire case nurses were coming in the OR to check the previous count sheet when the sponge was left in to see if their names were on it.