Gossypiboma: The Hidden Sponge Sabotaging Wound Healing

This episode explains gossypiboma (retained surgical sponge), how the body mounts a foreign‑body granuloma response, and why these sponges can mimic infection or tumors and lead to chronic inflammation. It highlights the added danger for people with diabetes (impaired immunity, poor circulation, neuropathy), shares a real diagnostic case, and reviews prevention steps like sponge counts, radiopaque markers, barcode systems, and surgical timeouts. The key message: persistent non‑healing wounds often need a detective approach to look beneath the surface.