More than 550 objects were unintentionally left in Canadian medical and surgery patients between 2016 and 2018. The problem appears to be getting worse according to a new released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The report says 553 foreign items — such as sponges and medical instruments — were left behind over that two-year period. That’s a 14 per cent increase from five years earlier. It's also more than two times the average rate of 12 reporting countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway, which had the next highest rates. CIHI's director of emerging issues, Tracy Johnson, said the data only notes how often the mistakes occurred, but not how or why Tracy Johnson, CIHI's director of emerging issues. Tracy Johnson, CIHI's director of emerging issues Johnson said several peer countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, do not report on cases where foreign objects are left behind, making comparisons difficult The Canadian statistic is based on data provided by hospitals in only nine provinces Canada also had the highest rate of avoidable complications after surgery, including lung clots after hip or knee surgery among the countries studied