The U.S. Food and Drug Administration received numerous complaints from patients suffering from surgical mesh complications. Some people suffered adverse reactions to mesh, including adhesions. An adhesion is when the intestines adhere to one another or mesh, the FDA said in a recent warning.
Uses of Surgical Mesh
This medical device offers support for repairing weakened or damaged tissue. The mesh is often made from man-made materials or animal products and can come in knitted mesh or non-knitted sheet forms, the FDA reported.
Synthetic mesh devices, those from man-made material, can be non-absorbable and remain in the body as a permanent implant. However, mesh devices made from animal tissue, like a pig or cow intestine, are absorbable and can degrade over time and are not intended to be a long-term reinforcement implant for the repair site, the FDA said. However, as the implant degrades, the patient should experience new tissue growth that should provide necessary strength.
Surgical mesh is used to treat a number of urogynecologic issues, such as pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. Transvaginal and transabdominal mesh implants treat POP while a mesh sling treats SUI.
Surgical Mesh Treats POP and SUI
The FDA has warned patients against using surgical mesh implants, however, as the federal agency has received reports of women suffering injuries and other complications. Transvaginal mesh, for example, has reportedly lead to erosion through the vagina, infection, urinary problems, pain and continued complications with POP and SUI.
Erosion of the mesh and scarring of the vagina have caused some patients to also have to undergo surgery to remove the implant, the FDA said.
In July 2011, the FDA said complications from TVM were “not rare” and often serious. It also said it wasn’t certain transvaginal mesh was more effective in treating POP than traditional non-mesh repair. However, it’s clear that surgical mesh implants could pose greater health and injury risks, the FDA said.
Between 2008 and 2010 alone, the FDA received nearly 3,000 reports of adverse events from surgical mesh devices used to treat POP and SUI. In 2011, the FDA told patients to be aware of serious surgical mesh risks. In addition, the FDA warned consumers to ask their doctors about all possible POP treatment options.
What You Can Do
If you were injured by surgical mesh, you may have a claim. Start your free surgical mesh case review today. An experienced attorney will contact you soon to discuss your case and see if you may qualify for financial compensation.
Lori Polemenakos is Director of Consumer Content and SEO strategist for LeadingResponse, a legal marketing company. An award-winning journalist, writer and editor based in Dallas, Texas, she's produced articles for major brands such as Match.com, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, Xfinity, Mail.com, and edited several published books. Since 2016, she's published hundreds of articles about Social Security disability, workers' compensation, veterans' benefits, personal injury, mass tort, auto accident claims, bankruptcy, employment law and other related legal issues.