system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What would really happen if a small piece of candy entered the abdominal cavity during surgery and was sealed inside like in the Seinfeld episode "The Junior Mint"?

Could it cause an infection? How does the body get rid of it? Let's say it's a Junior Mint if that makes any difference.
gpt
We refer to these kind of objects, be they Junior Mints or otherwise as foreign bodies. A retained foreign body in the abdomen can undergo two types of response - a non infective or an infective response.

If the object is relatively biologically inert, then its likely to cause a mild response from the body, just resulting in a fibrinous coating around it. This results in what is called a granuloma, which can often sit quietly in the abdomen causing no symptoms whatsoever. Granulomas may be completely undetected ,or be discovered accidentally during scans for other reasons. They often require no treatment.

Other types of foreign body though may stimulate a more active  response resulting in a a florid inflammatory reaction, often ending up as an abscess. This is much more serious and can cause all kinds of complications, including obstruction or perforation of the gut, or fistulas which are  abnormal connections between the gut and outside world which leak abdominal contents and can be very difficult to treat.