A CT scan after experiencing extensive bloating for three years showed a 42-year-old woman had two surgical sponges left inside her abdomen for at least six years, according to a recent article by CNN. The findings were published online on Feb. 21 in the New England Journal of Medicine.  

The CT scan specifically showed two masses with strings attached to them, and a laparotomy procedure confirmed that the two sponges were attached to the patient's omentum and colon.  

According to the researchers, the sponges were most likely left after one of two cesarean sections the woman had undergone in the past nine years. The sponges were removed, and the patient was released five days later, according to CNN.  

"The patient received two C-sections in the same gynecologic clinic," said lead author Takeshi Kondo, MD, a physician at Chiba University Hospital in Japan, to CNN. "Although she [the patient] met the surgeon and told him (about) the retained foreign bodies, the surgeon did not admit his mistake on the grounds of lack of clear proof."