When the Scottish government implemented concrete measures against the use of vaginal mesh surgery for the repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI), credit was also given to Dr. Michael Thomas Margolis who sent a letter to the Minister of Health and Wellbeing, recent reports from online sources say. A renowned pelvic reconstructive specialist in the United States for over 20 years, Dr. Margolis has always been an advocate against the use of polypropylene mesh for the repair of prolapse and urinary incontinences.
Using his experience in removing mesh more than 200 times since the introduction of polypropylene mesh to the American market in the mid-1990s, Dr. Margolis raised very important points in his letter to Minister Alex Neil. He enumerated the different complications suffered by women who have sought his assistance for mesh removal surgeries. It was stressed in the letter that adverse effects from this defective material and defective surgical theory far outweigh the potential advantages.
He strongly stressed that the use of transvaginal polypropylene mesh for the repair of POP and SUI must be stopped immediately. Since it involves inserting the mesh through the vagina which is a clean contaminated field and not a sterile environment, this type of surgical procedure is bound to fail.
The use of vaginal mesh implants may result to complications during the course of the surgical procedure or a period after the implantation of the vaginal mesh device. These complications may appear after a number of years has passed or as early as a few months after the operation.
He has treated patients with injuries to the bladder, bowel, blood vessels, and vagina sustained during actual implantation of the vaginal mesh devices, based on his experiences. After mesh operations, women experienced severe complications such as mesh erosion, chronic infection, vaginal scarring, chronic pain, morbid disfigurement, and loss of function of the vagina.
Largely due to the contraction of mesh, late complications may not be uncommon which may emerge in the form of permanent injuries to surrounding organs such as the vagina, urinary tract, and the bowel. With several marriages disintegrating due to the loss of consortium brought about by the damage to the vagina, relationships have been put to the test. Pain during sexual contact or dyspareunia has been considered as one of the most common complication resulting from surgeries using vaginal mesh devices.
Most important of all, he underscored the point that there are several traditional methods of repair that have success rates equal or superior to vaginal mesh surgeries. This point of Dr. Margolis may have been validated by results of a recent study which found TVM surgery no more effective than traditional methods.
References:
meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com
meshgonewrong.com
