Injuries from Hernia Repair Mesh

A hernia is a medical condition in which the organ pushes through weakened abdominal tissue. In order to repair this, doctors use either a mesh or a flexible patch to reinforce that area. If the mesh is either broken or defective, the consequences can be extremely severe and in some cases fatal as well.

In the recent past, a number of patients that have had hernia mesh implants have filed lawsuits against the manufacturers of these devices and the surgical mesh recall that companies have actioned have been in response to some of these complaints and cases.

If you or a family member has suffered health problems caused by the failure of a hernia mesh repair surgery, you may just be eligible to take legal action. It’s crucial that you hire the services of a legal expert to help you with your case and get just and fair compensation for the damages and agony you have suffered.

Hernia mesh surgery failure

This mesh is a flexible product that’s used to fix hernias. While these products have been around in some form or the other since the 1950’s, the procedure has never been a risk-free one. In case the hernia mesh fails for some reason, it can have very severe complications and side-effects; sometimes, it can result in the re-emergence of a hernia in the same spot.

Hernia mesh failure- different types

Over the years, a significant amount of research has been conducted around these meshes. In 2005 a study indicated that almost 42% of patients that had undergone this procedure suffered complications such as:

• Mechanical failure of the patch
• Rejection of the mesh by the body
• Severe pain
• Adhesions
• Polypropylene meshes were often involved in a considerable number of mechanical failures.
• Polytetrafluoroethylene meshes was involved in a significant number of infections
• Meshes made of a combination materials such as polypropylene & polytetrafluoroethylene were responsible for a large percentage of intestinal complications.

Apart from the types of meshes, the nature of the herniation too has an impact on the risk of the mesh failure. Some studies indicate that using these meshes in hiatal hernia surgical procedures carries a 20 to 30 percent failure rate. Most of these failures have caused significant esophageal damage, necessitating additional surgery;in many cases, this has also often left patients with permanently impacted digestive systems.

About a surgical mesh recall

When hernia meshes become infected, they form bacteria colonies called biofilms and antibiotics only help in alleviating the symptoms, but don’t cure the infection. Once the infection sets in, the only cure to this problem is to entirely remove the mesh. Not only is this a complex and time-consuming procedure, but can be prohibitively expensive as well.

This is also why the surgical mesh recall issue arose and spiraled to such enormous proportions in the first place. As mentioned at the start, if you or a family member has suffered or is suffering from complications related to the hernia mesh implant, contact a skilled and experienced doctor as well as a legal expert without delay.