Removal of mesh after inguinal hernia repair.

Hi Lisa, are you any closer to making a decision about removal? I had right side inguinal mesh hernia repair 20yrs ago. In recent months I’ve had intolerable pain (intermittently thankfully but getting worse) the pain is located just in from the crease in my groin (on the mons pubis bone area?) It likes a sharp stabbing and feels Like there’s nerve pain there too. I’m an athlete and the thought of not exercising is causing me depression, my exercise levels are now being effected. Do you know what investigation needs to be done to get a definitive answer...would it be an MRI? 

Hi there Zoe, I’ve finally been referred to hospital for removal, mri and scans do not show mesh, I had nerve stimulation before Christmas and it made the pain worse.Im on amitriptyline for pain relief but didn’t really work, I broke down to my gp over Xmas and she’s promised to help.Im currently seeking advice from all the lovely ladies on sling the mesh Facebook group.Hope this helps you xxx

Hey Lisa, many thanks for your reply. I’m sorry you’ve had such a tough time! I’ve got an appointment on Tuesday with doctor as I was sent for an ultrasound which didn’t show anything and the next step is an MRI. How did you end up getting a diagnosis for referral. (was it just through the symptoms you had). I’ve just come back from the gym after defiantly trying to run on the treadmill...I managed 2 min before pain was too intolerable Would you mind sharing some of your symptoms with me? I’m still in slight denial and hoping that it could be a sports related injury but I’m slowly starting to accept it probably isn’t. Unfortunately because of the line of work I’m in i can’t be on Facebook. I appreciate your help x

Hi Zoe, after the op I was in so much pain but I had to accept that it might take time to recover fully.This didn’t happen, had op in June by September the pain was still there all round groin area across my stomach and my back I also had numbness in my leg.The sharp stabbing pains are the worse as

If a knife it’s twisting inside me.I got referred back to hospital and from there I had mri and ultrasound, this only showed scar tissue which can be painful.The consultant told me abruptly that the mesh cannot be removed.He tried to say it was nerve pain and from there I had injections in the groin, this did nothing then I had nerve pain stimulation which was awful and left me in more pain the worst yet!!! That’s when I went back to gp and told her that I’ve done everything that they asked me to do but to no avail!!’ She was really sympathetic and new she had to help me! She said she would I sobbed my heart out.This is where we are now just waiting for referral but I’ve been recommended a top surgeon who is expert in this field.If u want to call me I’ll give u my number xxx

Hey Lisa, I’m so pleased to hear you’ve been referred to a top surgeon. The more I’m reading the more concerned I’m getting, it seems like it’s all very complicated and hard to negotiate and find out how to deal with it all. I’ve got my appointment with my GP in the morning, obviously there’s going to be no miracles and it’s scary to think of the next step, or whether I’m even going to make a next step. My pain is intermittent but gradually getting worse, I’m familiar with the knife like stabbing pain but it also feels like glass in there at times. Sitting down, lying down or trying to get up, turn over in bed is the worse Do you live in England? Zoe xx

Yes Zoe I live in England, going Wednesday morning to see him

In London, had lots of calls to make today to get yet another referral but I’m hoping he’s the one to make me better.Fingers crossed, all your symptoms

Are the same as mine x 

  

Hi Lisa,

Drs been telling my wife that MRI and x-rays never shows the mesh until we meet Dr Brian Jacobs in Manhattan NYC and he showed us how clear as sunshine it can be!

Little background,my wife had defective hernia mesh in her for 10 years and all sort of problems after n all Drs told her she is fine until we found Dr Jacobs n he removed it successfully about 2 years ago.

Just want to share this with you as I was sitting in th ops room when Dr Brian walked in prior to the removal surgery n he showed me on his phone that MRI results that he requested n how clearly th mesh showed up. I realized it was always clear but few Drs can really read MRI

Hi Lisa,

Drs been telling my wife that MRI and x-rays never shows the mesh until we meet Dr Brian Jacobs in Manhattan NYC and he showed us how clear as sunshine it can be!

Little background,my wife had defective hernia mesh in her for 10 years and all sort of problems after n all Drs told her she is fine until we found Dr Jacobs n he removed it successfully about 2 years ago.

Just want to share this with you as I was sitting in th ops room when Dr Brian walked in prior to the removal surgery n he showed me on his phone that MRI results that he requested n how clearly th mesh showed up. I realized it was always clear but few Drs can really read MRI

I am with Lisa here---My mesh had migrated and re attached to other organs---Cat scans, MRI and ultra sounds did not show this----Or should I say the radiologists are just not trained to see whats causing a problem. They are not bad doctors, its they just do not have the experience with our problems. When I started going through this 15 years ago I was told by Dr Parvis Amid from UCLA that there were really only two people in the world  that knew what to look for on a radiological scan. From this forum it looks like expertise has got far better--Thank goodness

Totally Barry. I live in NYC and you’d think surgeons and radiologists would be able to see in a cat scan if there were major issues wrong with hernia mesh. I had issues with my hernia area for 5 years and  I had repeated cat scans and MRI’s which all said mesh was fine. I was able to live my life except for these periodic flare ups. Then last FEB the s**t hit the fan and I was laid up in the most unimaginable pain. Went to see 2 top NYC hernia surgeons who said all was well, CT scans and MRI all “normal” but I knew 100% something was wrong and wouldn’t give up. Finally saw dr. Jacobs who saw something wasn’t right on the MRI and then dr. Belyanski who reads cat scans and he saw that the mesh was bent and shifted. I would if never found these two surgeon if I hadn’t done tons of online searching and eventually joining a Facebook mesh group.  But this took almost 6 months as I continued to be passed on to different doctors back, hip and every therapeutic doctor. Meanwhile it was the mesh that was slowly killing me.

I agree there are more surgeons these days that can read these scans but we are talking about maybe 5 or 6 which when you think k about it is statistically insignificant when you realize there are at least 10,000 hernia surgeons out there.

It begs the question how can our society out a implanted device in people when A) they can’t read the tests to see if something is wrong and B) 99% of the surgeons don’t know how it can’t remove the mesh if it indeed has malfunctioned.

If the mesh had balked up or shifted/migrated it can be read on a cat scan or MRI if it is an expert reading it who also has experience removing mesh.

However, if nerves have been entrapped in the mesh I don’t believe this shows up on these tests. 

I do think the days of being told one will die or lose a testicle if the mesh is removed are over if you go to one of the top removal surgeons and it seems more and more the nerves can be spared on mesh removal if they haven’t been trapped in the mesh. I’ve spoken to 4 other people who have had there mesh removed by my surgeon dr. Igor Belyanski and none had to have any neurectomies. 

Fro what I heard dr. Chen who practiced under Parves has a bias towards performing a nuerectomy when removing mesh regardless of it needs to be done and I think he learned that from Parves.

So these days I believe mesh can be safely removed (in some cases a little bit of mesh is left on structures seems to risky to remove) however how one does once the mesh is removed is anyone’s guess and there is very little help in regards of what to do post removal: PT vs no PT or when to start PT? How long mesh was implanted, what structures were compromised, male vs female, hernia found post removal vs no hernia, inguinal vs I’m umbikical vs femoral. So many variable play into how one is expected to recover. How long does recovery take etc. 

so little research out there and the fact that there isn’t a qualified place you can goto if you are having problems from the mesh all point to the direction that mesh implantation for hernia has to be rethinked!!!!!!!!

Parvis did tell me could remove the mesh--It was going to cost $30,000 plus. My last surgeon said he could not help me anymore not for the high risk of me bleeding to death, losing a leg and or having an ostomy. The bottom line (and in my opinion) the Surgeons really cannot tell you anything until they do a surgery.  After each surgery my doctor came in to recovery and said he had found the problem of my pain and now I would feel a 100% better. Nothing has changed, I still have the chronic pain. You cannot cut into a body without the possible risk of nerve damage. Anybody that is contemplating further surgery should really weigh up the pros and cons. It's an incredibly emotional decision. You  will do anything to stop the pain/or improve the quality of your life. Of course every one of us has a problem TYPICALLY caused by mesh and the one thing we have in common is pain. BUT the complexity of each cause can be very different. Was the surgery done laparoscopically, or was it open. Where is the mesh attached to? Sometimes the pain has nothing to do with the mesh, its caused just by cutting into the body.. I got back the use of my leg .The  second surgery found that there was mesh on my my pubis. Radilogy reports did not reveal this, exploritary surgery did. So in my case it was a positive result. My pain is the same as well as restricted moblity. I doubt this will ever change. So I do my best by adapting my movement patterns to exercise and  adjusting my diet to reduce any inflammatory process. Im not giving up, I still post on groups like this, there are many more now than when I first started my searche. Of course the issue of mesh could be resolved by teaching  Shouldice repair https://www.shouldice.com/hernias-explained[/b]/

It will probably not happen because the Pharmaceutical/Medical supply companies make a ton of money from it. The mesh that was used for my repair was petroleum based and has set like concrete with serrated edges.