Interesting Word

GOSSYPIBOMA

From the Latin gossypium (cotton) and Swahili boma (place of concealment). Aka textiloma (textile + -oma), retained surgical sponge/swab/gauze. Which really means a surgeon has been inattentive and has left some of his tools in his patient's body. The body then mounts an inflammatory response to it (it's foreign, so it needs to be gotten rid of), and if it gets infected, an abscess forms (lots of pus). This usually takes days to weeks, but can be delayed and may only present months or years down the line. It doesn't happen often though (1 in 1000-1500 operations).