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Dr Michael Reinhorn Boston
I visited my mom out in boston and saw Dr Reinhorn for an inguinal hernia evaluation. I was first put off a bit by one of his staff who was rude and didnt make eye contact and was dismissive. However Dr Reinhorn himself and the rest of his staff was great including his PA and his other front desk staff and medical assistant. Dr Reinhorn has a very kind demeanor and he spoke well and didnt talk down to me at all. He didnt seem rushed either. His office isnt used to taking people from out of town and usually does 3 visits for the surgery 1) initial exam and visit 2) surgery (usually about a week later at the least ) and 3) 2 week post op. They did say I could do an initial visit and the surgery and I wouldnt have to come for the 2 week post op appt. Being that my mom lives in boston that would be doable for me however I felt more comfortable meeting him first and determining if he was the doctor for me since you cannot talk to him on the phone or email prior to your appt. He explained that his practice is small and very busy and he really doesnt have the staff which made sense. He seemed very reasonable. He said he learned the shouldice technique by observing at shouldice and then had a close friend and shouldice doctor observe him doing the surgery (back in boston I believe). He said you cannot use steel thread because its cost prohibitive, you have to make and cut your own thread (at least I think he said that). So he uses nylon I believe which slides just as well as far as he can tell. He has been doing shouldice since 2015. The sticking point was that he said there might be a two finger width of numbness around the incision because I believe he said you have to use muscle for the shouldice repair which could press on the femoral nerve(?). Anyway, he said the numbness could last up to 2 years and has always been temporary in his patients. I was fine with this until he said the numbness will very often spread to the labia and sometimes the clitoris. He did clarify that it was only the half of the clitoris on the side of the hernia repair. But that floored me. He did say he had never had a patient have a numb clit from his experience but it is possible. I emailed shouldice and they said that they do not have this side effect. I dont know if shouldice is being less transparent or if Dr Reinhorn isnt as experienced and therefore has different side effects. I emailed him for clarification on this to get more data on how often this happens and how long it usually lasts. But I havent heard back from him. Supposedly he will answer me this week. He seems like a very caring doctor but its hard to get a hold of him. I was wondering if anyone had heard of this side effect in women as a result of the shouldice technique.
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10 Replies
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Dr Brown said genital numbness wouldn’t be an issue. Belinda at his office has been very nice and so has he. And it won’t be that expensive according to my estimates even with the flight etc (cross fingers).
Like I said I contacted shouldice and they said genital numbness wasn’t a side effect at their facility. When I asked Dr. Reinhorn about this he said that shouldice will always do the best job.
Here are some of my notes from my visit with Dr Reinhorn. It’s basically what I wrote in previous posts.
With shouldice technique have to use a muscle to close things up. The genital branch of the genital femoral nerve is affected. Numbness will probably involve part of labia less likely your clitoris because of the nerve endings. He has yet to have a patient complain of clitoral numbness but labia numbness occurs all the time. In 2016 went to toronto to learn shouldice. He has done it for 4 years. He uses a nylon suture instead of stainless steel. Have to cut own stainless steel and sterilize it which he isn’t prepared to do. Shouldice feels a stainless steel suture slides more. But he has used this nylon stitch for 25 years and is confident it works well.
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Glad you are seeing Dr. Brown. When we as patients aren’t comfortable with what we are told by a physician, we should def get a second opinion. These procedures can have life altering consequences! I’ve had multiple hernia and mesh removal surgeries and never had numbness in the areas discussed. I have not had a Shouldice repair though. That sounds like a terrible side effect to me!! If you are a good candidate for no mesh repair, with small chance for recurrence, that is a smart way to go. I think there are too many that have side effects, including severe pain, with mesh repairs. You do not know how you may react to mesh, especially if you have pre-existing allergies. That has been my experience. Best wishes for a good repair and successful and full recovery!
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Oh, and if you get an answer from Dr. Brown on the whole clitoris numbness thing that would be great. I have read about some genital numbness in men as a side effect.
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I think judging from everything I’ve read here and from talking to Dr. Brown, that’s a great choice.
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Hi all sorry I have not be on for a while. I got an email back from dr reinhorn which I can share if desired but it still didn’t clarify things. I called and told them I wanted more clarification and I received an email about a week later saying that he went on vacation out of country and wasn’t able to respond before he left. Honestly I have decided to see dr brown in California. I am hoping that’s a good choice. He has been very responsive and patient with me and answered my questions.
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quote sambuka:I wanted to add too that Dr Reinhorn does surgery at the newton wellesley hospital but he also does it as a surgery center in waltham which has a good reputation. The surgery center in waltham only charges $5000 for the whole surgery so if you have insurance the cost is truly minimal compared to the hospital.
I just had my open mesh repair done by Reinhorn. My surgery was done at the Nashua facility. Total cost ~$5500. Dr. Reinhorn I felt was a very experienced and knowledgeable surgeon, but can’t comment on his shouldice experience, other then he told me how he learned how to do it, just like he told you.
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Man I’m a female also with an inguinal hernia and I’ve done a ton of research–this is something I’ve never heard of–and I’m not even sure that all modified shouldice uses the muscle. Since fewer women have inguinal hernias though a lot of things don’t get discussed. I’m hoping some doctors especially Dr. Trowbridge will weigh in on this. Myself, I’m hung up on the plastic sutures. Did you ask him if he ever did absorbable sutures?
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If you search “shouldice inguinal clitoris” in Pubmed you get 0 results.
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What seems a little incongruent is that he first said the numbness will very often spread to the labia and sometimes the clitoris, only the half of the clitoris on the side of the hernia repair. But then he did say he had never had a patient have a numb clit from his experience but it is possible.
Is he talking about actual or theoretical side-effects? Anyway, most people repaired by him must be men, not women.
I think Shouldice would at least tell you that’s a possibility if they had at least heard of that. It doesn’t seem very ethical telling you otherwise.
Shouldice is typically done with steel sutures, but it can be done with other materials, even in Shouldice Clinic.
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I wanted to add too that Dr Reinhorn does surgery at the newton wellesley hospital but he also does it as a surgery center in waltham which has a good reputation. The surgery center in waltham only charges $5000 for the whole surgery so if you have insurance the cost is truly minimal compared to the hospital.
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