Removal of Mesh Might Not Improve Side Effects

Vaginal mesh is a device that is implanted in woman to help support a woman’s pelvic organs. However, there are cases where the women suffer infections, bleeding, the mesh eroded, difficulty with sex and problems with urination.

According to two new studies, the removal of the vaginal mesh won’t necessarily improve side effects such as incontinence and pain related to the device. One study followed 123 women who had surgery to remove either a mesh device or another synthetic device. The study showed that 67 percent of those with the device were pain free after the surgery. Furthermore, on average, patient’s pain ratings were much lower two to three years after surgery compared to the pain they suffered before the surgery. However, the sole reported issue of the study group prior to the surgery was pain.

However, another study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (“UCLA”) had less positive results. The UCLA study surveyed 214 women about three years after they had their mesh implant removed. The women who were the subject of this study suffered not only pain, but other symptoms. The study showed that while two-thirds of the woman had no pain or only mild pain, the rest of the women still had moderate to severe pain. According to this study, twenty-eight percent of the women still had urine leakage at least once a day and half had pain during sex. That being said, the UCLA study had its own limits because only one-third of the women surveyed responded.