A woman has filed a hernia mesh repair complications lawsuit because of her injuries.

Jesusita A. sys she underwent surgery for a hernia in October 1994. An Atrium polypropylene mesh was used to repair the hernia.

On Feb. 17, 2015, Jesusita became very ill with stomach pains and believed she had food poisoning. Within hours, the pain became unbearable to the point she was unable to breathe because it hurt too much. Her daughter rushed her to the emergency room where doctors were surprised her hands and fingers had begun to turn blue due to lack of oxygen. She explained she literally could not breathe due to the pain.

Upon examination, the ER doctor discovered the polypropylene mesh covering the hernia had become embedded in a section of her bowels, causing an obstruction and twisting her intestines. The doctor warned her she would die without undergoing immediate surgery.

He told the pain she was experiencing was from that section of her bowel’s deprivation of oxygen and blood. That part of her bowel was “dead and needed to be removed as soon as possible.”

After the emergency surgery due to hernia mesh repair complications, Jesusita stayed in the Intensive Care Unit until she was released from the hospital on Feb. 21, 2015.

Due to the nature of the surgery, the incision was unable to be closed surgically or with staples; the incision “remained open and had to close on its own from the inside out.”

A nurse daily went to visit Jesusita at home to cleanse the incision and make sure she was healing properly. Jesusita’s youngest daughter had to quit her job to stay and care for her mother, who was on strict limitations with bed rest.

Once that incision healed completely, Jesusita was advised she would need to undergo another surgery to repair the hernia. She endured the subsequent hernia repair surgery in November 2015, which required her to miss another four weeks of work.

Polypropylene Blamed for Hernia Mesh Repair Complications

According to plaintiffs like Jesusita, Atrium allegedly misrepresented its polypropylene mesh as a safe and effective medical device that could be permanently inserted into the patient to assist in hernia repair.

According to the hernia mesh repair complications lawsuit, polypropylene mesh causes serious complications, including:

• Mesh shrinkage
• Mesh expansion
• Deformation
• Cracking
• Foreign body reaction
• Chronic inflammation
• Migration
• Organ damage
• Nerve damage
• Chronic pain
• Sexual dysfunction

Polypropylene mesh implanted in the human body has been associated with inflammation, scar tissue and a foreign body reaction. When scar tissue forms in and around the mesh, the implant may contract to as little as 50 percent its original size.

The foreign body reaction presents itself in the form of either infection or inflammation as the body tries to rid itself of the mesh.

Over time, hernia mesh repair complications can include the mesh degrading, releasing small flakes of plastic into nearby tissue that also can become irritated and infected.

Hernia mesh repair complications with polypropylene mesh include pain most of the time, according to one study. Nearly 75 percent of patients studied said they developed pain while at rest one year after hernia repair surgery with mesh; 78 percent experienced pain when they moved.

The Hernia Mesh Repair Complications Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-00153-GJF-GBW in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.