MarkT

I see what you are saying, though we must not make assumptions that there is inherently a problem between provider vs. patient perspectives. There *could* be, but we can’t evaluate whether that is the case unless we know the probabilities associated with various outcomes and the nature of those outcomes.

A drop in recurrence rate doesn’t just…[Read more]

@gohaiga (Watchful), I would like to see more research on the cremaster.

The claim is improved visibility to detect secondary hernias and weak spots, which can be addressed at the same time as the main repair…and that the way the cremaster is resected, with the stump included in one of the suture lines, helps reduce the likelihood of…[Read more]

Just FYI, this is a different paper than what was discussed in the now-deleted Mr. Sea thread. This one is by Shouldice docs…the other one was by Lorenz and others (including two Shouldice docs):

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33502639/

I summarized a lot of it in that deleted thread, so I’m disappointed to see that all gone…but in addition…[Read more]

Actually, now that I read more, that 2012 sale fell through (and it was indeed just for the clinic). Interesting to note is that it would have been to the same U.S.-based company (Centric Health) that in a roundabout way acquired Don Mills Surgical Centre. Shouldice remains privately held, but I’m not sure who the actual ownership group is beyond…[Read more]

I believe Ontario had seven private hospitals grandfathered in, with three currently in operation. In addition to Shouldice, there is Don Mills Surgical Centre. I’m not sure what the third is, but AFAIK it is similarly a facility of limited scope.

The Ontario gov’t is looking to expand the public-private partnerships with private facilities…[Read more]

I think it will be fine. The grounds are quite nice, but the reality is that very few people made use of them. In the nicer weather (and before covid), patients could go for walks out there on their own or with visitors, but they certainly don’t need acres and acres of land for that.

What I would actually like to see is some updating of the…[Read more]

The lands had already been sold to someone else a while back, with the hospital having a long-term lease (16yrs left acc. to the article). The hospital itself had been sold from the Shouldice family to a healthcare company back in 2012. Here is some earlier news on…[Read more]

Yes, 100% normal…zero problems.

The first one was 30yrs ago, the other side was done about 18yrs ago. I’ve never noticed anything while playing tennis, doing yoga, swimming, weight lifting, walking/running, etc.

If I remember correctly, after the first one I would occasionally get a twinge of pain, but that was entirely gone in a relatively…[Read more]

Chuck, chronic pain numbers may be underreported across the board, not just at Shouldice. Historically there has been inadequate long-term follow up, chronic pain definitions and measures have varied, and some patients may go elsewhere when they have a problem rather than returning to their original surgeon, further complicating getting accurate…[Read more]

You’re asking for opinions that are going to be rather meaningless…

How can anyone on this forum (including the surgeons) offer an educated opinion when they don’t know what your mesh and tissue looked like prior to removal, what the removal surgery entailed, what the current state of your tissue looks like, etc?

Your questions should be…[Read more]

Where in Canada, @virginiacreepers ?

Shouldice Hospital is a private hernia-only hospital specializing in no-mesh repair, but the surgery is still fully covered by your provincial healthcare plan (even if you don’t reside in Ontario).

Semi-private rooms are available for an additional fee…although those may be covered if you have…[Read more]

I echo the Shouldice Hospital recommendation (I’ve personally had left and right inguinal repairs done there, many years ago, with zero complications both times).

They do their own open no-mesh repair that has been around for many decades, their experienced surgeons average ~50 repairs per month, and almost all of them are done under local…[Read more]

I would like to see more study and discussion on Desarda too.

I was quite disappointed to read this on the site of Drs. Tomas and Brick: (https://ufirstrejuvenation.com/no-mesh-hernia-and-surgery-center/no-mesh-hernia-surgery-inguinal-umbilical-hernia-surgery-desarda-technique/)

“The Shouldice inguinal hernia repair method has been around for…[Read more]

Maybe worth noting just to avoid any confusion…there are two recent consensus-themed papers on the Shouldice repair.

This one (Mainprize et al., 2022) is by Shouldice docs, while the one we discussed in the now-deleted Mr. Sea thread (Lorenz et al., 2021) included a dozen docs, two of whom where from Shouldice.

The Shouldice Method: an…[Read more]

Watchful, cherry picking results and making broad claims like ‘lots of chronic pain with Shouldice’ is irresponsible…I don’t know how else to put it. If you want to defend that sort of behaviour on this site, that’s on you.

Do you want me to start acting that way? Here we go…I hope you will defend my irresponsible behaviour the same way.…[Read more]

Watchful, Chuck knows full well that he is cherry picking one study that is clearly not representational of Shouldice repairs. He has repeatedly done this as he bashes every option (and many surgeons) that he hasn’t chosen and then he uses over-the-top positive language to describe the options he does support.

It’s misleading and it is irresponsible.

Chuck, Shouldice has nothing close to a 26% chronic pain rate…stop misrepresenting the situation…and referring to doctors as ‘mesh whores’, ‘criminals’, and ‘scum’ is not acceptable. You are doing a disservice to the community and embarrassing yourself.

I hope either you stop with these types of posts or that @drtowfigh bans you from this…[Read more]

I am genuinely glad to hear the removal surgery went so well and I truly hope it proves to be a lasting, trouble-free fix for you.

Also hoping that means an end to your sometimes rude, misleading, and/or irresponsible posts…but I guess time will tell on both counts lol

“Very likely” might not be good enough in your eyes, but in reality that is what we have to work with because we don’t have great data.

Of course there is variation among the Shouldice surgeons…the question is what the *range* of that variation looks like. Since we don’t know, we have to fall back on logical reasoning when thinking about…[Read more]

It is a worry, but IMHO it should not be as big a worry as it seems on the surface.

Why do we want to choose our surgeon? Because we know that surgeon skill/experience with any repair is an important factor in patient outcomes. How does a surgeon gain a high level of skill/experience? With proper training in the repair and by performing a…[Read more]