title: Late complication of open inguinal hernia repair: small bowel obstruction caused by intraperitoneal mesh migration.
abstract: We describe a case of small bowel obstruction due to prosthetic mesh migration. A 67-year-old male, who had undergone prosthetic repair of inguinal hernia 3 years before, was admitted for a mechanical small bowel obstruction. Laparotomy revealed the penultimate ileal loop choked by an adhesion drawing it towards a polypropylene mesh, firmly attached to the parietal peritoneum of the inguinal region. The intestinal loop was released; the mesh was embedded deep with continuous whip suture after folding the parietal peritoneum. The patient was dismissed on the 11th postoperative day surgically healed. The "tension-free" technique is undoubtedly the gold standard for hernia repair. However, it is not free of complications, mostly due to technical errors, of which the surgeon must be aware, both when he is responsible for correcting defects in the wall, as well as when he has to face an occlusion in a patient who has undergone plastic surgery for inguinal hernia.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Surgery Department, Policlinico of Modena, 71 Via del Pozzo, 41100 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferrone
authors.forename: Pier Carlo
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Scarone
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Natalini
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007077:Ileal Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D011126:Polypropylenes; D012086:Reoperation; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013526:Surgical Mesh / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D011126:Polypropylenes