Reply To: No-mesh inguinal hernia repair near Minnesota/Midwest?

[Good intentions]

quote Ddot14:

I’m located in Minnesota and would obviously love to find a surgeon in-state, but am willing to travel if necessary to see an experienced, talented, and supportive surgeon. I would like to find someone in the Midwest someplace (Minnesota, Wisconsin, North or South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, etc) if possible, but will consider traveling farther if I need to. I’m aware of Dr. Kevin Petersen in Las Vegas and Dr Robert Tomas in Florida, but I’m unable to fly and the long drive with a hernia isn’t very appealing if I can find closer options. But I’ll do it if I need to!

Just had another thought also. Don’t be too economical or “practical” when making your decision. The effects of a poor decision will last for the rest of your life.

I think that one of the problems with today’s hernia repair with mesh method is that it is so easy to do the repair quickly, with no short-term complications. It’s a battle of short-term results versus long term results. We all tend to think in the short-term, and even long-term to most of us is months or a year or two. Both patients and doctors tend to lean toward the mesh repair, I think, because it gives immediate relief and seems so simple. Just get that mesh to cover the defect with a lot of extra just-in-case material, then get out. The patient only has to plan for a few hours away from home. It all seems so simple. The protruding abdominal contents are placed back where they should be, the mesh covers the hole, and the access holes are sewn up. One to two weeks later the patient is functional. But the relief is not full or complete. The patient ends up at some lower level of the person they expected to be, with no apparent solutions.

So, even though you’re avoiding mesh, to avoid long-term problems, you’re still planning in a short-term, convenient, way. I did the same thing when I had mesh implantation. I was close to traveling to the Shouldice Hospital but then a different easier path appeared, with confident people telling me it was safe and effective.

Just an observation and maybe a push for you to go a little farther to get what you want.

Don’t overlook also though, that there are many stories of successful open repairs with mesh. But open repair has more short-term risks, like bleeding and infection. It leaves a bigger scar and there might be a bump. Healing is slower. But the long-term results might be better.

If somebody on the inside collected information they might find that there are specific bad materials and/or bad methods. Everybody would benefit if the bad actors could be rooted out. It might be though that the biggest device makers are the bad ones, and they control the field. Until somebody identifies who the bad ones are though many people will assume that all mesh is very risky and avoid it like you are.

Good luck.