If you have a hernia that requires surgery, you want to make sure your surgeon is well suited for your operation. While hernia surgery is one of the most common surgeries performed worldwide, complications can arise. There a few simple steps you can follow to make sure you choose the right hernia surgeon for you.
Instructions
1. Ask your surgeon how long she has been performing hernia surgeries. Experienced surgeons repair hernias with higher success rates than novices. Consider the Shouldice Hospital in Toronto, which only performs hernia surgeries. At standard hospitals, complications arise or the hernia returns in 10 percent to 15 percent of hernia operations. At Shouldice, that rate is 1 percent. Since the surgeons at this hospital perform hernia surgeries all day, every day of the year, their experience leads to near perfection.
2. Make sure you feel comfortable with your surgeon. Sit down with him days before the procedure to talk about the operation; your instincts will tell you if you are comfortable or not with your surgeon.
3. Ask the surgeon if she'll be using the conventional method to repair the hernia or using the mesh technique. In the conventional method, the surgeon pushes the hernia back into the abdominal cavity and then sews together the underlying muscles. The alternative method involves placing plastic-like mesh over the repaired hernia and attaching the mesh to the surrounding muscle. The Shouldice Hospital only uses the conventional method, considering the mesh technique to be extraneous, ineffective, and even dangerous. Consider these different approaches and ask your physician if the conventional method can be used.
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