Have you developed complications including pain, bleeding, discomfort during sex, or infection following surgery that used transvaginal mesh to repair pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or to stop stress urinary incontinence (SUI)? If so, this is a distressing time for you and your family. You may feel exhausted, frightened, and overwhelmed. You may wonder how you’ll pay the medical bills and provide for your family. You may fear for your life. You may ask yourself, “How did this happen? It was supposed to be a quick, uncomplicated surgery.”

You have every right to feel the way you do. The use of transvaginal mesh in the treatment of POP and SUI is intended to provide a solution for a wide variety of debilitating symptoms through a minimally invasive procedure with a quick recovery time. It is not supposed to cause harm or death. Sadly, however, that is what sometimes happens.

Transvaginal mesh is designed to become integrated into the tissues surrounding the implantation site, strengthening the weakened area, eliminating organ prolapse, and resolving pain and incontinence. In some cases, the treatment works as planned and women experience dramatically improved quality of life through a relatively mild surgery. Unfortunately, in other cases, the mesh shrinks once inside the vagina, causing vaginal shortening, tightening, and intense pain. Another more serious possibility is that part of the mesh material does not get absorbed into the tissue as intended and instead remains free inside the pelvic area. The sharp edges of the mesh can perforate surrounding organs or cut into the vaginal wall causing multiple adverse symptoms including:

• Mesh erosion into the vagina, bladder, uterus, and bowels (some patients have even experienced the mesh exiting the body through the vagina)
• Organ perforation
• Chronic pelvic pain
• Chronic bleeding
• Abscesses (pus-filled sores)
• Pelvic infection
• Recto-vaginal fistula (a tunnel opens between the rectum and the vagina allowing feces to escape through the vagina)
• Nerve damage and neuromuscular problems
• Difficulty urinating
• Incontinence
• Dysfunction in emptying the bowels
• Painful intercourse
• Vaginal scarring and disfigurement
• Recurrence of original POP or SUI symptoms, including another painful prolapse episode
• Psychological trauma

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, see a doctor immediately for medical treatment. If you need help locating a doctor, call Avram Blair & Associates P.C. at 919-729-5152??. We can also help you determine if you have a case to file suit and recover compensation for the injuries you’ve suffered as a result of the implantation of transvaginal mesh.