Complications with the use of pelvic mesh in prolapse treatments
Complications with the use of pelvic mesh in prolapse treatments include mesh erosion, persistent discomfort, infections, pain during intercourse, and bowel problems. Sometimes, you may need further surgery or mesh removal surgery due to such complications.
Complications might arise while using vaginal mesh procedures to treat urinary stress incontinence. However, evidence indicates that these consequences are uncommon and less severe than the problems connected with mesh used to treat pelvic organ prolapse.
Please see your doctor if you have any complications associated with female pelvic reconstructive surgery. You can also seek compensation by hiring an experienced product liability lawyer, such as Thomas Plouff.
What Is Transvaginal Mesh?
Doctors utilize transvaginal mesh, a net-like medical device, to repair weak or damaged bladder or pelvic tissue in women. The term “transvaginal” refers to the vaginal route that surgeons use during mesh placement.
Surgeons use polypropylene mesh to treat stress incontinence and repair pelvic organ prolapse (POP) permanently. Polypropylene is the material most often used to create these meshes. At the same time, certain meshes may also be made from animal tissue.
The surgical mesh used to correct abdominal hernias in the 1950s eventually gave rise to the transvaginal mesh devices utilized today. In the 1970s, surgeons first started using the mesh in the abdomen region to fix POP. In the 1990s, gynecologists began employing synthetic mesh for the transvaginal repair surgical management of POP and the surgical treatment of female stress urinary incontinence too.
What Are The Symptoms Of Mesh Erosion?
The most often documented consequence of transvaginal POP repair with surgical mesh is vaginal mesh erosion, also known as mesh exposure, mesh extrusion, or protrusion. It happens when transvaginal mesh erodes and becomes apparent via tissue. Erosion may be very painful, and vaginal erosion typically makes intercourse impossible.
Aside from the vagina, erosion may affect various other organs. Infections, discomfort, and irregular connections known as fistulas may result from erosion into the bladder or rectum. Female urinary incontinence and urinary tract infections from erosion may result in repeated infections and excruciating discomfort.
Other issues induced by erosion include:
· Abscesses (pus-filled wounds)
· Discharge from the cervix
· Scarring on the vaginal wall
· Neuromuscular issues
What Are The Side Effects Of Pelvic Mesh Implants?
While many women with pelvic mesh have no problems, a small minority do. Surgical or mesh-related complications might occur immediately after surgery or years later. Many women wonder can pelvic mesh be removed?
Complications may vary from slight discomfort to debilitating pain and can include:
· Irregular vaginal bleeding or discharge
· Swelling
· Painful sexual intercourse
· Bladder and bowel issues, including infection and incontinence
· Prickling sensation
· Chronic pelvic pain, which may grow worse with exercise
· Abdominal, leg, or buttock pain
Can A Bladder Sling Cause Bowel Problems?
Yes, one of the many reported bladder sling complications includes bowel problems. Plastic mesh bladder slings are the gold standard for stress urinary incontinence surgery. Although mesh slings are riskier than tissue slings, most women handle the surgery well. Surgery has both an in-progress and a long-term risk of complications.
After mesh sling insertion, perforation of the bladder and intestines may result in significant infections and other complications. Perforation occurs when surgical mesh devices or surgical instruments harm or cut through an organ.
The most prevalent of these problems is bladder perforation. It occurs when surgeons use a needle to pierce the bladder while inserting the bladder sling. However, it may also happen when the surgical mesh edges cut the bladder.
Bladder perforation does not usually result in long-term harm. Perforation is usually caused by poor surgical technique. Surgeons can fix this if the damage is detected promptly. In certain situations, patients may need to urinate via a catheter while the damage heals.
Bowel perforations are significantly more severe injuries, although they are thankfully uncommon. Bacteria may seep out of the gut and create life-threatening infections due to these injuries. The FDA received complaints of at least nine bladder perforations up to 2008. Six of these incidents resulted in death.
Can Pelvic Mesh Cause Bowel Problems?
Organ perforation is described as the piercing of a bodily organ’s wall. Surgical mesh may perforate other organs as it erodes through interior tissues. This often occurs in the bladder, urethra, bowel, or rectum. Because of the danger of infection and organ damage, doctors consider this one of the most significant consequences of mesh surgery.
Perforation happened more often in women with POP who had mesh repair than those with colporrhaphy, a mesh-free procedure.
Perforation may occur during implantation in rare circumstances. This occurs when surgical instruments pierce the bladder, intestines, or blood vessels.
The primary therapy for mesh cutting into organs is to remove it. To halt bleeding, surgeons may rebuild mesh-damaged tissue or cauterize (burn) broken blood vessels. Suppose urine or feces leak from the bladder or intestines. Physicians use a catheter or other devices to remove the waste in that case. Antibiotics are administered if the perforation develops the infection. Mesh removal may need many procedures.
Transvaginal Mesh Complications: Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Many women have the frustrating condition of pelvic organ prolapse after giving birth or because of changes related to menopause, obesity, a chronic cough, or constipation that twists their muscles.
The pelvic floor muscles that support your uterus, urine bladder, and other pelvic organs become weak and create such pelvic floor disorders. Pelvic organs may prolapse due to stretching and weakening of the supporting muscles. While female pelvic floor organ prolapse is seldom fatal, it may lead to serious problems like stress urinary incontinence, painful intercourse, and fecal incontinence.
Your doctor may recommend transvaginal (vaginal) mesh surgery to alleviate your symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse. The mesh is a medical material placed during the surgery to support your bladder and urethra while reinforcing the vaginal walls. Surgery performed transvaginally (via the vagina) is minimally invasive than traditional open surgery since no incisions need to be made on the patient’s skin tissue.
Unfortunately, complications with pelvic mesh surgery, such as erosion and other issues with the mesh or the treatment itself, are not uncommon.
How to Know If You Are Suffering From Vaginal Mesh Complications
Contact your doctor immediately if you develop symptoms due to pelvic organ prolapse surgery.
Even if you don’t have any symptoms after the surgical procedure, it’s critical to maintain your usual treatment. This enables you and your physician to watch for any issues. It also allows fast treatment if problems arise.
Inquire with your doctor whether mesh will be used in your operation. Inquire with your physician about your treatment options, and ensure you understand the potential risks and advantages. If complications arise, contact a pelvic mesh lawyer to help with legal issues.
