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quote ajm222:I do like that this surgeon said he’s been using the same mesh for ages (at least a decade I believe). He gave me the name but I’ve forgotten and plan to ask him specifically what it was. And he also did say he’s happy to do the non-mesh repair if I choose. And he said one study suggested mesh versus non-mesh at three years had the exact same recurrence rate. No better or worse. They just don’t really know beyond that perhaps what the recurrence rate is. He did say it looked great, though, and he seemed confident in that method.It’s good that you asked. But the answers are focused on the same thing – recurrence rate. It’s like old-time brain-washing. Ask a question about chronic pain, get an answer about recurrence rate.
My surgeon was very confident about his number of repairs also.
Good luck with whatever you end up doing. Try to lead the conversation though. The environment is intimidating and it’s difficult to challenge the experts.
Here’s one thing you can think about to maintain your curiosity – if “mesh” is perfected and is the superior method, why is so much research being done on new mesh products? Are all of those researchers deluded, and wasting their time? Why do the medical device suppliers keep introducing new mesh materials, if there’s no problem? What need are they addressing?
Here’s a pretty good article (it leans toward industry a bit) that explains how these things happen. The same people are working in hernia repair products. Replace just a few words and it’s easy to imagine that it was written about hernia repair.