These types of mistakes don’t happen often. But if your surgery is the one in 6,000 where it does, you’d probably wish some additional measures had been taken to avoid having a surgical sponge left inside you when it was over. “One in 6,000 is rare, but it’s one too many,” said Steve Campbell, chief medical officer for patient safety for Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato. “The consequences of a sponge left behind can be huge.”
Mankato Free Press by Robb Murray 3/18/12