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by npsomaratna 423 days ago
Doctor here (non-USA). This is standard procedure and has been standard ever since I was a medical student, almost 20 years ago. The "running nurse" is in charge of maintaining a count and making sure that nothing is left inside the patient.

Swabs and towels tend to come in pre-prepared packs, so the nurses have another source of truth. Any mismatch between the preprepared count, running count during the operation, and actual swabs/towels laid out at the end is a serious cause for concern. You will not close up a patient if there is a mismatch.