Reply To: How many tacks are typically used in lap surgery?

[Good intentions]

The notes seem to refer to a preloaded Medtronic fixation device. 30 5mm absorbable tacks are preloaded in the instrument, ready for use. The tacks are absorbable so would not show up on any imaging after a certain period of time. The surgeon could have used anything from one to 30 of them. I pasted a link below that shows many details.

Many surgeons cut and paste their post-surgery notes together, from what I’ve seen. My implantation surgeon reported 5 titanium tacks in his notes. When I talked to him afterward about how the mesh didn’t need fixation so fixation shouldn’t be the cause of my pain he rambled about using some tacks because the hernia was bigger than he thought it would be. No titanium tacks showed up in the MRI that I had done as part of the path to mesh removal.
When the mesh was removed Dr. Billing did not find any tacks.

Here is a pdf file from Medtronic about the tacking device and its contents.

https://asiapac.medtronic.com/content/dam/covidien/library/gb/en/legacyimport/surgicalinnovations/hernia/apps/1/eu-15-206002-hernia-care-solutions/apps/b2c0a29ea3df86767047b9e3db328a59/medias/5d297b074a7a4efb35034be55fd931a7d6c606d5.pdf