Pain/tender 2 years post open repair w/mesh

[cuonym]

Looking for advice on best next step.

Had open repair with mesh for an incarcerated right inguinal hernia in September 2014. Done at Mayo Clinic where I was a fellow at the time (I’m a neuroradiologist). Recovery initially went fine but a month later developed new pain/burning in upper medial thigh. Called surgeon’s office, nurse told me it was common, should go away. It seemed to go away, then recurred a few months later and groin became tender to palpation. Went to a different surgeon at Mayo (first available since I was told my surgeon who operated on me couldn’t see me for another 3-4 months). She examined me, said there’s no recurrence, probably inflammation from mesh, take ibuprofen for 2 weeks. I did and the pain subsided. I went almost a year with occasional minor discomfort, thought I was out of the woods. In spring 2016 pain flared up again. Since then it waxes and wanes, sometimes seems better with exercise (I run and swim regularly). A pain specialist who practices in the same area of the hospital as me did a steroid injection on ilioinguinal and genital branch of genitofemoral nerves…not sure it helped. He prescribed compounded cream (lido/fentanyl/gabapentin/etc) which also has had dubious efficacy.

My preferred response to things like this is to ignore and hope it goes away, but it doesn’t seem to be going away. It gets distracting at times and I think I should at least explore options. I still get intermittent burning pain/sensitivity in my medial upper thigh and more pinching/squeezing-quality pain in my groin area, and my groin has been pretty tender to palpation for months now.

I’d be willing to travel to be evaluated by someone with expertise in this sort of thing, if you guys think it might be worthwhile. I now live in Missouri.

[jzinckgra]

Pain/tender 2 years post open repair w/mesh

quote :

Looking for advice on best next step.

Had open repair with mesh for an incarcerated right inguinal hernia in September 2014. Done at Mayo Clinic where I was a fellow at the time (I’m a neuroradiologist). Recovery initially went fine but a month later developed new pain/burning in upper medial thigh. Called surgeon’s office, nurse told me it was common, should go away. It seemed to go away, then recurred a few months later and groin became tender to palpation. Went to a different surgeon at Mayo (first available since I was told my surgeon who operated on me couldn’t see me for another 3-4 months). She examined me, said there’s no recurrence, probably inflammation from mesh, take ibuprofen for 2 weeks. I did and the pain subsided. I went almost a year with occasional minor discomfort, thought I was out of the woods. In spring 2016 pain flared up again. Since then it waxes and wanes, sometimes seems better with exercise (I run and swim regularly). A pain specialist who practices in the same area of the hospital as me did a steroid injection on ilioinguinal and genital branch of genitofemoral nerves…not sure it helped. He prescribed compounded cream (lido/fentanyl/gabapentin/etc) which also has had dubious efficacy.

My preferred response to things like this is to ignore and hope it goes away, but it doesn’t seem to be going away. It gets distracting at times and I think I should at least explore options. I still get intermittent burning pain/sensitivity in my medial upper thigh and more pinching/squeezing-quality pain in my groin area, and my groin has been pretty tender to palpation for months now.

I’d be willing to travel to be evaluated by someone with expertise in this sort of thing, if you guys think it might be worthwhile. I now live in Missouri.

Interesting. I had inguinal repair using lapro 5 months ago. All was well until about 1.5 months ago and I’ve been getting daily pain exactly in the spot that was repaired. It’s more of a dull to moderate pain that goes away upon walking, but flares when sitting, driving car or other bending activtities. Very frustrating. I recently had it checked and was told no recurrent hernia. Probably post surgical pain, maybe scar tissue, not sure. I think it could also be IBS as I’ve had CT scans that have shown diverticula.

[drtowfigh]

Pain/tender 2 years post open repair w/mesh

Plan of care depends slightly on type of repair you had, i.e., what type of mesh was implanted, too.
Pain radiating in upper inner thigh can be ilioinguinal or genital branch of genitofemoral nerve. The genital branch is difficult to block unless you are experience.
Also, as with any hernia repair, a recurrence should also be checked out as a cause.

Near your area, I recommend Drs. at WashU: Michael Brunt, Jeff Blatnik.
Other surgeons can be found on https://americanherniasociety.org/find-a-surgeon/

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