Because all the big tissue guys are now saying they have less than 1 percent recurrance rates. If you do, do you have any data on the real data? I spoke to Tomas by phone and of course he said his recurrance rate was under 1 percent. I asked if I could seen his records demonstrating this. The question took him by surprise and he of course refused saying he wasnt going to sit on the phone and argue with me. This is the dilemma that we patients face. We can’t get honest information so how are we expected to make a decision? I saw a post here where Dr. Todd Harris claimed a 20 percent tissue failure rate. So what is the answer?
That said, in general, long term outcomes are best with mesh repair, when looking at hernia recurrence rates. They are typically (much) lower with the mesh repair. Anyone who claims a less than 1% hernia recurrence rate with non-mesh repair should be queried as to their data, whether it is published in a peer reviewed manner, length of followup, how recurrence was determined, etc. It is very difficult to get recurrence rates that low with tissue repair, as it relies on the integrity of the Patient’s tissues, and anyone who has a hernia, by definition, has some tissue impairment. For example, studies show lower amount of mature collagen in Patient’s with hernias. This, sewing abnormal tissue to itself is more likely to fail than if new tissue/mesh is brought in to support the repair.
.
