Jnomesh
Forum Replies Created
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Thanks for the reply. So in your experience what is a general time frame you give to your patients who have had robotic assisted inguinal mesh removal? On average I’ve heard around 3 months to Heal from the surgery-does that sound right.
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Hi dr. Towfigh-thank you for your reply. I had my mesh removed by dr. Belyanski due to my mesh folding over and curling up into a ball and becoming as he described it “rock hard”. He was amazing and was able to detect on a cat scan I had done in March that the mesh was defective and bent and even worse when he got in there. He was able to remove 90% of it except for a little in the illiac vein and artery.
I suffered two issues before mesh removal: extreme heaviness and a swollen feeling medially and then a sort of stiffness feeling more laterally front thigh like 2-3″ below the ASIS (almost seems like maybe where the LFCN is ) and when sitting caused extreme burning in thigh and groin. No burning when walking or being upright only sitting.Since mesh removal almost at the 6 week mark that heaviness feeling medially is gone. However the funky tight feeling in the upper thigh is there on and off and sitting is still uncomfortable but much better than before the mesh was removed. I requested no new mesh to be put in if there were any hernias upon removal. So I was wondering:
1) could the discomfort I mentioned especially when sitting be coming from the little bit of mesh left on the illiac vein and illiac artery are these structures near the area I indicated? (2-3 inches below the ASIS)
2) when I met with dr. Belyanski 5 days post surgery he mentioned that there was slight weakeness in the femoral area and that I could be at risk for a femoral hernia down the road. He told me he couldn’t reinforce that area with sutures Bc it was to vascular. So since I have had such a nightmare experience with mesh I got kind of nervous with this news and wanted to do some research on femoral hernias and how they are repaired without mesh in case I do get one. I am a male-thin 5’8″ 145-150lbs. I’m hoping I won’t ever get one!
3) in the operative report it states there was weakeness in the internal inguinal ring and he sutured the area with absorbable sutures by bringing down the internal oblique muscle to the illiopubic tract. Just curious how long it takes for this suture repair in your opinion to fully heal? I don’t want to risk reinjuring it and am willing to be patient just looking for a time frame.
Thanks for any input you can offer. I had to travel out of state for the surgery and it isn’t always easy to contact the surgeon to ask questions -
Again thanks for the prompt reply!! I am 5 weeks out from having a large mesh removed so I am probably still healing from that 3 1/2 procedure.
i appreciate the work you are doing in offering an alternative to hernia mesh repair, as this is causing many problems to many people here in the US and other countries. I only wish that we had similar options in the US.
one last question
I know you don’t use mesh but maybe you can help me with a anatomical question: my surgeon was able to get 90% of the mesh out but had to leave some small amounts of mesh on the illiac vein and illiac artery.
im wondering if these two structures are near the upper thigh where I have some burning when sitting. I’m thinking that maybe when I sit and compress the area that maybe the mesh fragments is compressing these two structures and resulting in the burning sensation. But again I have no idea where exactly these two structures are although I think i read somewhere that one of these turns into the femoral artery which I know is in the leg-thus my question.
thanks again! -
Thanks doctor for your prompt response that is awesome and much appreciated. While I have your ear I thought I’d throw a few more questions your way:
1)how long does it usually take for a non tissue repair with absorbable sutures for a inguinal hernia to fully heal? I’ve read at 6 months the area should be about 75% healed and at a year 100%.
does this seem accurate?
The reason I ask is because when I had my mesh removed laparoscopically 5 weeks ago the surgeon reinforced the indirect space which had weakness by bringing the internal oblique muscle down to the illiopubic tract and stitched with absorbable sutures. So I am just curious how long will that area take to heal and how long should I be extra careful as to not risk reinjuring the area?
2)Also do you have any contact with or know iof any surgeons in the US that specialize in pure tissue repairs?
3)also what technique do you use to repair inguinal hernias (shouldice, bassini, Mccvey, desarda etc
4) and what technique do you use to repair femoral hernias
5) what are the pros and cons of absorbable and non absorbable sutures
6) i know you mentioned that femoral hernias are less prevalent and thus you have done less of these repairs but what are the symptoms patients usually present with a femoral hernia outside of an y obvious bulge? I have some burning in my upper thigh right about where the bio bone ball and socket is-sometimes there is slight burning that radiates around to my lower back. Both of these are only brought on when I sit not when I walk.
7) are you aware of any advances in the area of hernia repair: stem cell therapy or tissue regeneration?
8) is there anything that can be done to make a hernia area that is weak (but no hernia present) stronger such as prolotherapy or PRP therapy. My surgeon noted I had some weakness in the femoral area and was wondering if there are some things I can do to strengthen the area?
Thanks again-look forward to hearing back from you! -
I’m a little late to the game here but I would like to echo some of good intentions points. When I had my mesh implanted I had a hematoma and ER visit a few days post surgery. Only now do I know that this was a very large hematoma and that it was right where the mesh was placed.
when I went back to the implanting surgeon 3 times during the first year to complain I didn’t feel right, he did an examination and said no reoccurrence. I told him I felt heaviness and burning in the stomach. Now when I search the web and see studies concerning mesh things pop up like a hematoma, or heaviness in the stomach/abdomen are signs that should ne considered that something may be wrong with the mesh.
but all my surgeon looked for was a recurrence. Fast forward 6 years later and when the pain took a turn for the worse and became debilitating I saw two other hernia “experts” again after examination I heard the words “no recurrence”. Then a cat scan was ordered and cam back normal. And then both sent me off to pain management. fortunately I didn’t give up and since the medical community couldn’t advocate for me I had to for myself. 6 months of tons of tests tons of doctors and tons of research led me to a surgeon who saw in the same exact cat scan what the other two surgeons were given-that indeed the mesh was bent. And when he went in to operate it was even worse then the cat scan showed-it was balled up and hard as a rock. It was the bard 3D maxx hernia mesh and while I’m not a fan of any mesh this is pure crap. There are a lot of people suffering from this mesh but i degress.
again put aside the mesh whether it is good or bad argument-and I certainly have my views on this topic-but my story like so many others who HAVE suffered from mesh gone bad is the reason mesh being the gold standard has to be revisited.
it is unequivocally wrong that when mesh goes wrong the patient is left by himself, isolated and quite frankly left to think he or she is going crazy.
i can’t think of anything so cruel. The fact that there are only a handful of surgeons who can handle the challenge of removing mesh and can read a damn cat scan or MRI to see if something is indeed wrong is again disturbing and wrong.
the fact that dr. Ramshaw has a year long waiting list and I’ve recently heard isn’t seeing new patients for mesh issues Bc he is backed up again is beyond troubling-to few surgeons who can handle this procedure and to many patients that need there help.
the fact that I had to do hundreds of hours of research to find a surgeon to remove my mesh travel out of state and pay thousands of dollars for the surgery again is cruel and completely unfair.
ive read numerous testimonies from people that when they’ve asked surgeons about mesh removal they’ve been told they will die, lose a testicle or a limb or it just can’t be done. We know now that isn’t true. One surgeon told me removingmymesh would be like prying tar off the the cement floor with pliers. So patients, yes patients are being lied to or if not lied to and the surgeon truly
believes this then this is a problem.
so what is the solution to the “gold standard” of mesh that took away 6 1/2 years of my life and affected my wife and 2 kids and that has left me with a uncertain future going forward?
well how about this?
line up the thousands upon thousands of surgeons who implant mesh for hernias and ask them these two questions:
if something goes wrong with the mesh do you feel confident you can remove it?
can you confidently read cat scans or MRI’s to determine mesh issues?
an answer of no to either of these questions and sorry but you can’t implant hernia mesh!
or at least make it mandatory that they have to provide patients with these facts.
Hi MR or Mrs blank-you have a hernia and it should be repaired with mesh but I have to to tell you if something:
mesh shrinks, can get entangled in your nerves, migrate, become rock hard, fold over, attach itself to the bladder spermatic cord and other structures, become infected, cause a hematoma and If something goes wrong with the mesh
a) I don’t know how to remove it and yeah also
b) if there is a issue with the mesh-when I order a MRI or cat scan I don’t know how to read it to look for mesh complications.
would you like to proceed?
lets see how fast pure tissue repairs make a come back and at the very least are offered as an option
for hernia repair again Bc it was never made an option for me. -
Thanks for your reply. 6 years ago I had a laparoscopic mesh repair for what turned out to be both a direct and indirect hernia. I had issues post surgery and starting last Feb debilitating pain. It turned out the mesh had curled up into a rock hard ball and I had the mesh removed (robotic assisted laparoscopically). He was able t remove about 90% of the mesh with some having to be left in the illiac vein and illiac artery.
he said there was no direct hernia (scar tissue filled in the area) and no indirect hernia but some weakeness in the indirect space which was sutured with absorbable sutures.
my question is the surgeon said the was slight weakeness in the femoral area and he could not reinforce this with sutures while he was in there Bc there area is very vascular and didn’t want to risk any bleeding (he was in there laparoscopically ).
He said in the future i am at risk for a possible femoral hernia. So I am just trying to be procactive and have a plan should I develop a femoral hernia . and have a surgeon in the US who has experience treating femoral hernias with no mesh
so a few questions:
are there any steps I can take in regards to nutrition, diet and excercise or any others steps proactive or preventative to increase the odds that I don’t have a femoral hernia down the line?
also when you repair a femoral hernia with out mesh is there risk or likelihood that the inguinal area is compromised?
thank you for your input? -
Hi. Dr. Kang. Just curious about tissue (non mesh) repair for femoral hernias. What technique do you use and are the results (low recurrence) the same for inguinal repairs?
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I would like to echo everything vtjbrent said in his post. I recently had my mesh removed. It had folded and curled into a ball and was rock hard.
i too had it removed robotic assisted laparoscopically by dr. Igor Belyanski who saw in a CT scan what so many others had missed that the mesh had folded. It was much worse when he actually got inside there. I am about 4 weeks out.
i am encouraged to see you are doing so well 6 weeks out.
And yes if I could do all over again I would of researched the best way and place to get a pure tissue repair. Unfortunately there aren’t many choices out there as mesh has become the gold standard. Whether you argue for or against mesh the real take away is when it goes bad it really goes bad. 99% of the implanting surgeons do not k is how to remove the mesh and to me this is a fundamental problem in using mesh. 99% of surgeons and radiologist do not know how to read an MRI or CT scan to identify mesh issues-and that is a problem! So you get passed on from test to test to doctor to doctor and they all say everything is fine with the mesh. It’s a long and brutal journey, not to mention you will have to most likely travel to another state to find a removal surgeon.
i don’t think the surgeons understand this point.
The physical, emotional and psychological effect this has on someone.
there has to be a better way-then sticking something in someone that statistically speaking can’t come out of you and almost a zero chance to see something is wrong on tests-unless you find the 4 or 5 surgeons in the United States out of thousands who can help you.
this is the fundamental problem with mesh.
sorry for the rant-it’s been a long journey for me. -
I had mesh removal about 4 weeks ago laparoscopically robotic assisted. The plan was if there were any hernias to repair them openly after the removal. However, there weren’t any. My direct hernia was filled in by scar tissue I’m guessing. Although there wasn’t a indirect hernia presence either there was some weakness and the surgeon did do a pure tissue repair-as far as I can tell after reading the operative report. He used absorbable sutures. So my plan is to take real slow as I know they lose more and more strength as the area heals. Hope this helps