title: Mesh removal after vaginal surgery: what happens in the UK?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is little objective evidence regarding complication rates for mesh procedures outside clinical trials. Current coding poorly collects complications of prolapse and continence surgery using mesh. This survey was designed to identify surgeons performing mesh removal and reporting patterns in the UK.
  
  
  METHODS
  An electronic questionnaire was sent to all members of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and members of the Section of Female Neurological and Urodynamic Urology of the British Association of Urologists in the UK. The questionnaire aimed to identify the number of procedures performed for mesh complications and whether they were reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the patterns of referral and treatment RESULTS: Referral to a colleague in the same hospital was common practice (69 %). Only 27 % of respondents stated that they reported all removals to the MHRA. The numbers of surgical procedures were low, with most respondents performing between one and three procedures each year and many not performing any surgery for a specific mesh complication in the previous year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Removal of exposed, eroded and/or painful vaginally inserted mesh is performed by many different surgeons in a variety of hospital settings in the UK.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medway Maritime Hospital, Windmill Road, Gillingham, Kent, UK, ME7 5NY. jraduckett@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2978-2731
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duckett
authors.affiliation: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, London, W6 8RF, UK.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morley
authors.affiliation: University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: Ash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Monga
authors.affiliation: Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Poole, Dorset, UK, BH15 2JB.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hillard
authors.affiliation: King's College Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Dudley
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Robinson
mesh_terms: D020878:Device Removal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053825:Suburethral Slings / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013526:Surgical Mesh / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Complication; Midurethral sling; Surgery; TVT; Vaginal mesh