24 Mar 2022
Hernia Mesh Surgery: What Does it Entail and is it Safe?
Almost 1 in 10 people will get a hernia during their life, and although symptoms vary from person to person, the outcome is usually the same - at some point, a hernia will probably require surgery.
What Exactly is a Hernia?
The NHS explains a hernia as a lump that “occurs when an internal part of the body pushes through a weakness in the muscle or surrounding tissue wall.” There are lots of different types of hernia including the inguinal hernia which affects mostly men, and the far less common femoral hernia which affects predominantly women. Hernias develop in the area between the chest and hips and can occur in people of any age.
How is a Hernia Fixed?
The British Hernia Society explains that there are two types of surgeries that are carried out to fix a hernia.
- Non-mesh repair: this involves closing the abdominal wall defect (hole) with stitches.
- Mesh repair: the use of mesh to augment the repair and act as further reinforcement.
Mesh Repair: Stats and Facts
Between 90,000 and 100,000 people in the UK have mesh repair surgery to fix a hernia per year. Mesh repair on hernias has been used globally for around 25 years and is the preferred method for fixing a hernia due to repairs with stitches having a higher failure rate.
Dr Ulrike Muschaweck, a leading hernia surgeon in the private sector, says another reason for high mesh implant rates is that young surgeons are no longer taught how to fix hernias using sutures, which is her preferred method due to so many mesh complications.
Muschaweck says she has “performed 3,000 mesh removals because of chronic pain - after which only two of the patients had not gone on to become "pain-free".”
Of the hundreds of thousands of mesh surgeries performed, the BBC says that up to 170,000 people who had the surgery could have had complications including some patients being left unable to walk, or feeling suicidal due to the detrimental impact the surgery has had on their life.
A 34-year-old woman named Jen Coles was left with chronic pain and having to walk using a cane after having a mesh implant to fix her hernia. Her family later paid for her to have the mesh removed, but her lifestyle has dramatically altered since the initial surgery. “I was so active - running around commuting, kayaking, and now I can't pick up a sock from the floor," says Jen.
We are Expanding Our Panel
Cases linked to mesh repair surgery are ongoing, and we’re looking to expand our panel of medical experts to provide reports for complex cases such as these and other clinical negligence cases. We work hard to help establish if clinical negligence has occurred so that our claimants can continue their legal journey confident with the high-quality report Speed has provided for their case.
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