A rare case of intrathoracic Gauzoma.

Background: Gauzoma is a foreign body reactive granuloma which is an extremely rare complication of thoracic surgery. We describe a case of a Gauzoma in which the gauzes were removed by mini-thoracotomy as a less invasive procedure, discovered incidentally after 35 years of follow-up.

Case Presentation: A 51-year-old man was referred to our department for hyperhidrosis treatment, and imaging studies and biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of Gauzoma. As the Gauzoma gradually grew for a few years, surgical intervention was judged necessary, and the removal of the gauzes was performed in this case. A two-stage operation in two days was required to complete the surgery. The completion of gauze removal was confirmed in the second surgery using a postoperative computed tomography (CT) scan. The patient is currently doing well 17 months after surgery, and the size of granuloma unchanged.

Conclusion: We performed the removal of the gauzes as the treatment for Gauzoma. Although removing the gauze may have prevented its growth so far, careful follow-up is still needed.