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Houston surgeon recommendation
I saw that there were earlier posts requesting recommendations for hernia surgeons in Houston. I recently had an inguinal hernia repair performed by Dr. Mike K. Liang of Houston. Dr. Liang is a specialist in hernia surgery (for example he was one of 8 experts selected to speak and answer questions in the “Advances in Surgery” online panel discussion “Improving Outcomes in Routine Hernia Repair”). He has published extensively on hernia repair. While most of his publications concern ventral hernias he is very familiar with all forms of inguinal hernia repair (open, laparoscopic, robotic). My surgery went very smoothly and I have had no issues during recovery.
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6 Replies
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Hi Peter – I sent you a PM. I am in Houston and looking for a hernia surgeon.
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No problem, I’m fine with the questions. When I met with him he said he was familiar with, and fine with, open, laparoscopic, or robotic repair, whichever was my preference. I requested open with mesh because I had a repair previously on the other side, 22 years ago. That was open with mesh (it was actually done at the Lichtenstein Hernia Institute) and it has worked so well that I didn’t want to change. He was also fine with using local anesthesia with sedation, as was done for the first one.
Just a bit of personal experience: based on the surgery 22 years ago, I was expecting to be somewhat limited for several days after the surgery. But in fact the day after the surgery I felt fine, no pain, so I just had a normal day.
Here’s a bit of historical trivia! From a publication by Irving Lichtenstein in 1964: “The patient walks away from the operating table without assistance and requires no hypodermic injections of drugs for pain postoperatively. He is discharged from the hospital – in less than 24 hours after operation with all sutures removed. No restriction of activity is imposed. Indeed, the patient usually drives home and he is encouraged to return to his ordinary mode of living and occupation immediately.”
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Thanks for the reply Peter. I was just trying to differentiate him from the vast array of hernia repair surgeons. It’s very interesting that he chose an open mesh repair instead of a laparoscopic repair, especially since he has expertise in laparoscopy apparently. I assume that it was a Lichtenstein method. Did he discuss his reasoning for the method? Sorry to pry but that has become a hot topic on the forum. The best method.
Most surgeons today choose a single method and use it on all of their patients. I have talked to three different surgeons about hernia repair and they all talked about “this is what I do”. None of them even mentioned the possibility of a different type of repair. The big societies have “method battles” at some of their meetings, with surgeons describing why the method that they use is best. It’s pretty fascinating.
There is a lot of pressure today to move to laparoscopic methods (which necessitates the use of mesh), and on to robotic if possible. The medical field has turned in to a tech entrepreneur field, with even the big professional societies like SAGES having tech-oriented inventor focused events.
Anyway, thanks for posting and good luck. I have found Dr. Liang’s article and linked it below. Looks like an email address is required at the least in order to read it.
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/robotic-groin-hernia-repair
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Sorry, the post wasn’t intended to be a personal experience story but to address an issue that’s come up before, recommendations for hernia surgeons in Houston. My own surgery was an open inguinal hernia repair with mesh. But Dr. Liang is very familiar with laparoscopic and robotic repair (he is the author of the current “UpToDate” article for physicians on robotic groin hernia repair).
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Thank you for your contribution.
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This reply was modified 6 months, 2 weeks ago by drtowfigh.
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This reply was modified 6 months, 2 weeks ago by
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Thanks for posting. Can I ask a few questions? One of the major problems in hernia repair is the vast array of possibilities. Different types of hernia, different types of repair even within a category like laparoscopic, different types of mesh, and different types of people.
How long has it been since the surgery? What type of hernia did you have? Are you an active person, like an athlete, or more moderately active, like just coming and going to work every day? What type of mesh did you get? (Dr. Liang’s web site implies that he is a “mesh-first” surgeon). What type of surgery did you get? Open, laparoscopic, robotic?
No offense intended, but the majority of the discussions on the forum are about the odds of success, in the short-term and in the long-term, and the methods and materials used. Without some details there’s no way to differentiate Dr. Laing from any hernia repair surgeon. They all have some wins behind them.
Keep posting as you recover. The real world stories are important.
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