Patna, Aug 26 (IANS): In a case of medical negligence, doctors of a medical college left a ball of cotton inside a woman's stomach while performing a caesarean section in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district, an official said on Saturday.

The incident came to light when the woman underwent an ultrasound again owing to continuous pain at a private nursing home where doctors found a cotton ball.

They removed the foreign body through surgery.

A pregnant Priyanka Kumari was admitted to Jawahar Lal Nehru medical college and hospital Mayaganj Bhagalpur after getting into labour on February 19.

She delivered a baby boy through an operation and was discharged on February 26.

As she was complaining of abdominal pain, she went to the hospital where doctors dressed the stitches but failed to detect the actual problem.

“With no relief, we took Priyanka to a private hospital where the doctors carried out an ultrasound and detected the presence of a foreign body. On further investigation, they learnt that it was a ball of cotton which had, by then, created complications in the intestine as well. The cotton ball was removed surgically,” said the woman's husband Chandan Kumar.

“Thankfully, my wife is safe and recuperating. Had the cotton ball remained for some more time, it could have resulted in more complication in the intestine,” Kumar said.