Granddad blames mesh for ‘torture’
Pain after hernia surgery leaves 71-year-old stuck at home, writes Cate Broughton.
EXCRUCIATING testicular pain brought John Pritchard to his lowest point a few weeks after a hernia repair procedure with surgical mesh.
The 71-year-old Christchurch grandfather says he’s ‘‘not a stranger to pain’’ but couldn’t believe how his body was reacting to surgery for a strangulated hernia in June last year.
‘‘I’ve had gall stones and kidney stones, I’ve even had a twisted bowel operation so I know pain and this pain is just out of this world, it’s actually torture.’’
Two weeks after surgery, Pritchard began feeling severe pain which increased over the next few weeks.
The retiree believes his body reacted to the mesh and that it was responsible for the pain, but he has no way to prove it.
The New Zealand Association of General Surgeons (NZAGS) president Dr Andrew Moot defended the use of mesh for hernia procedures and said it had a very good safety record.
‘‘Studies suggest a repair with mesh is associated with less pain than a suture repair, but you can always get pain after surgery.’’
Mesh procedures were much more successful in preventing a recurrence of the hernia, Moot said.
Chronic pain following hernia repair occurred in ‘‘less than 10 per cent of patients,’’ according to a NZAGS position statement.
Nearly one year on from the surgery and with new medication to make the pain bearable, Pritchard is anxious the painkillers might wear off as his body adjusts to high doses.
His sleep is disrupted and he has developed a limp.
The keen amateur photographer and DIY enthusiast had to sell the 4WD he used to go on photography trips. Now he rarely goes out.
‘‘It has completely taken my quality of life. I just watch TV now.’’
His treatment injury claim to ACC was turned down initially but is now under review.
ACC spokeswoman Stephanie Melville said: ‘‘The presence of pain is not sufficient to establish if there is a physical injury, we need a diagnosis of the injury.’’
In a statement, the Medical Technology Association of New Zealand, which represents mesh manufacturers, said mesh products were safe and consumers ‘‘may be assured that surgical mesh products in New Zealand meet the highest quality standards’’.
Since 2014, ACC has accepted 65 of about 80 treatment injury claims for hernia repair with mesh, Melville said.
Founder president of the American Hernia Society and mesh expert Dr Robert Bendavid disputed the safety claims saying most surgical mesh acted in the same way, ‘‘by stiffening, eroding, perforating, causing chronic inflammation, chronic infection, sinuses and pain’’.
Minister of Health Jonathan Coleman declined to comment on the issue. Last week he said he was seeking advice from officials following the Health Select Committee recommendations, released in August last year.