Sonographic appearance of a retained surgical sponge in the neck

We report the sonographic appearance and clinical course of a retained surg ical sponge in the neck beginning 6 months after a partial thyroidectomy. S onograms showed a subcutaneous curvilinear hyperechoic interface with marke d acoustic shadowing obscuring the left side of the neck. Three months late r, a fistulous tract could be seen. Surgical exploration revealed a florid foreign tissue reaction due to a retained surgical sponge. Early diagnosis of retained sponges is important to enable expeditious removal before compl ications develop. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.