You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Case Reports: Learning from unexpected outcome (positive or negative)
Mesh erosion into skin following laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair
  1. Chen Ying Soon1 and
  2. Sze Li Siow1,2,3
  1. 1Department of General Surgery, Sarawak General Hospital, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
  2. 2Taylor's University School of Medicine, Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  3. 3Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia
  1. Correspondence to Sze Li Siow; szeli18{at}yahoo.com

Abstract

With increasing utilisation of meshes in inguinal hernia repair, reports of mesh-related complications are emerging, particularly late visceral complications, with mesh migration and erosion into the small bowel, bladder and colon reported after laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair. We present a case of spontaneous mesh migration through the superficial inguinal ring with skin erosion following TEP inguinal hernia repair, the first published report in the literature to our knowledge. This case highlights the difficulty in diagnosis due to the long latent period of hernia repair and the onset of erosion. A high index of suspicion is required when diagnosing any patient who presents with an unexplained groin abscess following ipsilateral TEP repair. CT scan should be performed early for diagnosis and assessment. Removal of the migrated portion of the mesh, antibiotic therapy and secondary wound closure are strategies for the successful treatment of this complication.

  • General surgery
  • Dermatology
  • Healthcare improvement and patient safety
  • Medical education

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2022-254011

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Contributors CYS is the author of the original content of the case report, was responsible in obtaining and formatting the images and also responsible for obtaining consent form from the patient. SLS was the supervising consultant responsible for conception of idea for publication and reviewing and editing final content of the case report.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.