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Encouraging percentages from Docs please!
Some of my recommendations from being in your position and what I learned.
I did what I thought was good research and asked the right questions but found out after my surgery, my surgeon was not the surgeon he or his staff made him out to be.
A few years after my surgery I found the book Unaccountable. This really opened my eyes and every issue the writer presented I could directly relate it to my first hernia surgery and why things turned out so poorly. highly recommend reading it before your search for a surgeon. I would also check out some websites. Dr. Goodyear has a great site with loads of very good information on it. I am sure there are others.
All it takes to be a quote specialist is stating you are a hernia specialist. After my first hernia surgery which had issues starting in the recovery room until my second surgery, I was told by my insurance company and the hospital of my first surgery in my search to find the next quote hernia specialist to fix the problems created by my first surgeon. They had me see five local quote hernia specialists and when I started asking the right questions and knowing what to look for in their answers I found out none of them had any special training in hernia surgeries or any experience in fixing what the original surgeon did. I lived with the pain and suffering until my insurance changed until I found a true specialist. Two of the doctors I saw just a few short years ago are now claiming that they a specialists in this field. I would not recommend them for hernia surgery and one not for any surgery. The hospital from my original surgery, basically stated that if a surgeon is licensed in the state as a general surgeon they are a expert in hernia surgeries.
Infection can happen after any surgery. Not sure if the hospital/clinic will provide that information to you on their known % of infection rate post surgery. Not sure if I have every heard of rejection of mesh but shrinkage. How and where the surgeon attaches the mesh is very important. Triangle of doom.
It comes down to the experience, skill, ability, caring and volume of surgeries of the doctor you chose and still sometimes you might be the one that has issues after the surgery, by doing your research and finding the right surgeon helps your odds. If it is a teaching hospital there is a good chance a resident will do the surgery with or without your knowledge or consent.