Good intentions

There is a Search box on the very upper left of the first page of the forum. It’s not obvious, so maybe you missed it. No offense. You can find quite a bit about Novitsky and Jacob on the forum. I think that both of them have done Herniatalk LIVE sessions with Dr. Towfigh.

Thank you Dr. Szotek. While I can see that you have been offended and started to slide into typical internet “shading” in your response, that post is actually the type of information that everyone that comes to this site is expecting. Real-world professional information.

In my own profession I have found that it s best to assume that the…[Read more]

“We have not observed any chronic groin pain and we suspect that these implants will continue to perform at the highest level. ”

How do you evaluate chronic pain and discomfort? Not observing is the same thing that the synthetic mesh surgeons say. They haven’t heard anything. Not knowing does not mean it doesn’t exist.

And I know of at least…[Read more]

Dr. Slooter has been mentioned on the site before. Here is a thread about him, below, and another surgeon, Dr. Conze.

Search through the site, most of the surgeons that are known for mesh removal and hernia repair have been discussed in the past on the forum. There is a Search bar at the upper left of each page.

It would help you to know the…[Read more]

Everyone is “reassured” by what looks like a good idea. It’s the unintended and unaddressed side effects that are the problem.

Good luck.

Only posting so people can see the product. It is essentially a variation of the common plug-and-patch. Plugs are the only product that most surgeons will speak up against using. They create quite a mess, apparently.

Proflor

Bilateral mesh implantation is very common. It is almost the standard for laparoscopic mesh repair today. And successful mesh removal without destroying the peritoneum is also common. The fact that you’ve had a recurrence on both sides almost suggests that “incorporation” of the mesh did not happen as it is supposed to. It’s only been four…[Read more]

Not all, just some. There is a very wide variety of procedures and mesh materials, that all fall under the category of “open repair”.

They have to go beyond the edges of the hernia to find good tissue to attach to. How far they go can depend on the type of repair. Some of them use quite a bit of extra material. The Onstep repair (BD) pushes mesh all the way down to the pubic bone, for example. Here are a few of J&J open repair materials. The center pillar represents the…[Read more]

He said that it was larger than he thought it would be. but he only found a small lipoma on the other side, yet still used the same 6 x6″ piece of mesh. For a lipoma, a blob of fat stuck to the spermatic cord.

Mesh is viewed as some sort of magical material and they want to cover as much area as possible. It is all about recurrence, still,…[Read more]

Here is a presentation from one of the surgeons mentioned in that paper, where he describes what to say to a prospective customer, and how to reduce the surgeon’s liability. It is a shocking presentation to watch, but Dr. Felix is a popular presenter, an “expert” in the field. He is training the surgeons of the…[Read more]

Yes. Here is a very recent paper, essentially summarizing the “state-of-the-art” of “minimally invasive” surgery for mesh placement. Once they get in there they try to cover all areas that might herniate in the future. Technically, it is prophylactic mesh placement, which is supposedly not correct or ethical, but it is standard practice now. I…[Read more]

Ovitex is only a few years old, with a very limited number of patients. The reported data is shockingly sparse.

Don’t overlook that TelaBio is a new company, one of those high tech “startups”, that just went public. They need to get more people to use their product quickly. It’s just the way things are today. This is not a new product from a…[Read more]

Where are you? In the States, many surgeons use surgery centers to do their repairs. They can use several different centers, depending on what they need and availability. The surgery center will have more detailed records on what materials were used, since they supply those materials. 2009 is quite a while ago so your records might have been…[Read more]

Here is a recent article about incisional hernias. I don’t know if it wil help you find a surgeon but it might make you think twice about just “giving up” and letting the “system” do what it does. It’s a real mess out there.

Another “wake-up call” in decades of wake-up calls” about hernia…[Read more]

There is no direct mention of chronic pain or discomfort, just “issues of concern”. IF there is solid data showing benefits, it should be shared. If it’s not shared, it’s reasonable to assume that it does not exist. Chronic pain is the #1 concern for a mesh repair.

The “traditional mesh” touts similar recurrence rates. Two years is a very…[Read more]

The foreign body response is an inflammatory process. In “theory” it leads to “incorporation” of the mesh, which is really just encapsulation of individual mesh fibers. Chemistry is a molecular process, the fibers are huge in comparison.

Inflammation is a process that breaks down tissues to make room for rebuilding tissue. If you study the…[Read more]

One more thought for you Lucas. The mesh surgeons will put much effort in to making some sort of mesh work for you. Where “work” means no recurrence. You can see that they are already planning to cut nerves (I assume that’s what “infiltrate” means, destroying the nerve), to remove the pain, even though the hernia itself should be the source of…[Read more]

You don’t really need to go outside of this forum to learn about laparoscopic mesh problems. Most of the bad stories are about that method.

As this COVID-19 crisis continues the parallels between the two situations just seem more and more clear. The industry ignores the bad that’s happening and keeps pushing toward what you want – profitable…[Read more]