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Hernia MD
Posted Mar 22, 2008 10:09 PM
I am truly sorry for the problems you have had. If there are 800,000 hernia operations done every year in this country, there will be many people with bad outcomes. We know that mesh isn't perfect, but hernia repair success in terms of recurrence and pain is better with the use of mesh. Every elective surgical procedures have risks. I do feel that the risk benefit ratio for inguinal and ventral hernia repairs favors the use of mesh without any doubt on a POPULATION basis. The use of mesh on an INDIVIDUAL basis should be made by the patient after weighing all options. Surgeons can help reduce the rate of post op problems by using well established, safe techniques along with mesh which is less likely to cause the problems we have seen in the past. Almost 40 % of inguinal hernias in this country are still performed with the Bard Plug & Patch. You know better than anyone that this product is flawed and outright dangerous in many patients. There are so many better choices for groin hernia repair. This product will come off the market, I just don't know when.
On another note, I spent some time talking to Dr.Bendavid at the recent hernia meeting. He makes many good points about uneducated surgeons performing hernia surgery. He also told me that he always identifies the three main sensory nerves in the groin in every operation and then intentionally cuts all three nerves! No wonder they have a small incidence of post hernia pain syndromes. If you did that in the US, dictated it in your note, and the patient was bothered by numbness after surgery, the lawyers would make a great living. There is still a good deal of opinion regarding the details of what is a good hernia operation. This is one reason why there are so many different ways they get repaired.
The next AHS meeting in the US is 2010 in Orlando (dates to be anounced). next year's meeting is in Berlin and is a joint meeting with the European Hernia Society.
I wish you well in your quest to eliminate chronic groin pain. |
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