Doctors discover sponges inside woman suffering from persistent bloating

For over three years, a woman had been suffering persistent bloating.

After doctors examined her, they discovered two masses near her hip bones. Two surgical sponges were inside of her for almost nine years, The Sun reported.

They were left behind during two c-sections the 42-year-old had undergone. One was done six year ago and the other nine years ago.

The New England Journal of Medicine case report stated two "hyperdense, stringy" masses was seen on a CT scan.

Doctors performed surgery on her to remove the sponges "covered in thick, fibrous walls" inside her abdomen.

Sponges are used between the space of the colon and abdominal wall, "to stop the intestines getting in the way", the Dr Takeshi Kondo, from Chiba University Hospital in Japan where the woman was treated, told Live Science.