Many hernia sufferers who opt for a hernia mesh treatment often also experience dangerous hernia surgery complications.

A hernia occurs when an organ or tissue pushes through a weak point in the abdominal wall or a tear in the abdominal muscle or other muscles. When this happens, it can be at best painful and at worst life-threatening.

Most hernias happen through the abdominal wall. These are called ventral hernias. Inguinal hernias are located in the inner groin and femoral hernias are located in the outer groin. Hiatal hernias occur around the diaphragm.

One way that physicians now repair hernias is with a medical device called hernia mesh. In fact, hernia mesh is currently the standard for the repair of hernias.

Doctors use hernia mesh to repair all sorts of hernias, and there are over one million hernia surgeries each year in the United States. Inguinal hernias make up nearly 800,000 of these surgeries. Hernia mesh, it has been shown, reduces the recurrence of hernias and is generally considered safe.

Even though hernia surgery is very common, hernia surgery complications can also occur. Unfortunately, reports of hernia surgery complications regarding hernia mesh material are becoming more and more common.

Hernia mesh is a medical device usually made of synthetic materials that act as a sort of patch for the hernia. Doctors use hernia mesh because it aids in the healing of a hernia and has been found to be more effective than simply stitching the tissue together.

A doctor places the hernia mesh over the hernia defect and then uses stitches or surgical glue to hold it in place. The tissue then, over time, grows over the mesh and the muscle wall is strengthened.

Mesh repairs, save a small amount of dissolvable mesh devices, are usually permanent.

Hernia surgery complications can happen whether or not mesh is used, however, hernia mesh devices have been used since the 1980s and have come into more popularity in the last two decades.

Commonly, hernia surgery complicationswhen mesh is used include pain, infection, hernia recurrence, bowel obstruction and bowel adhesion. Migration and mesh shrinkage or contraction have also been reported among hernia surgery complications.

Sometimes hernia surgery complications that are reported when mesh is used are connected with hernia mesh products that aren’t on the market any longer. These complications are serious and include reports of bowel perforation and bowel obstruction.

Other hernia surgery complications with mesh include bleeding, nerve damage, fistulas, seroma, tenderness at implant site and autoimmune reactions to mesh.

If you believe you have experienced hernia surgery complications, you may benefit from speaking to a hernia mesh attorney.