Hernia surgery gone wrong

[stilton]

I had laparoscopic surgery for a right side inguinal hernia in January of this year

The doctor assured me all was well afterwards but I continued to have pain and swelling months later and it wasn’t resolving

I was diagnosed with a large right side Hydrocele and after reviewing my options reluctantly decided a second surgery (with a different doctor, a urologist) was my best path to removing this painful and uncomfortable ‘problem’

This second doctor told me the Hydrocele was not caused ‘deliberately’ by the initial doctor, that statement has me wondering if he may have caused the Hydrocele during the Hernia surgery due to inadequate care ?

So last week I underwent a right side Hydrocelectomy and am now recovering again and hoping for a good result

Question still is, did I go through all this pain, discomfort, inconvenience and last but not least the second surgery needlessly?

In other words could the Hydrocele be the fault of the first doctor, and how would I know ?

Interested to hear from anyone with a medical background and / or anyone with a similar experience

[421dog]

General surgeon here...
done thousands of hernias and hundreds of hydrocoelss. Both iatrogenic and congenital.
They happen.
to The best of us.

it’s an easy fix, get on with your life and stop worrying about it.

is your hernia still gone?

the trade off is, if you fix the hernia “too well”, you might trap a little fluid in the spermatic cord and get a puffy ball...

We all do what we can. Sorry you’re having trouble.

[stilton]

With all due respect you’ve not answered the question

If my hernia surgeon didn’t take the appropriate precautions to avoid the formation of a Hydrocele I want to know

Almost a year of pain, inconvenience and another surgery that might have been avoided doesn’t translate to an ‘easy fix’ and the ongoing pain I’m still having recovering from it

[421dog]

I’m really sorry you’re having problems, but there aren’t “appropriate precautions” laid out in the “surgery curriculum book” to keep you from getting a hydrocoele after a lap hernia repair. It’s one of the possible (and fairly common) complications, and it is a really easy fix. I’d suggest that you get it fixed and move on with your life.

[421dog]

A much more common source of pain is an entrapped nerve. This is more common in open repairs, but can happen laparoscopically. It typically involves the Ilioinguinal or iliohypogastric nerve and causes groin, inner thigh or scrotal pain or numbness. Typical fix is nerve ablation either by cutting it surgically or ablating it with absolute ethanol. Again, a pretty minor fix.

[Fostex]

Surgery is not without risks, anatomy varies from patient to patient and a large part of the recovery and success of any procedure is how the patient recovers in subsequent months. The surgeon will do their best to mitigate any complications but there are many factors that can come into play. As 421dog alludes to, it is much more important is that the adverse outcome you suffered was recognised, corrected and you now no longer suffer any painful sequelae.

[stilton]

Thanks for the replies


My intention with this post was to solicit other opinions from medical professionals and / or those who have had a similar experience as to whether anything could have been done to prevent formation of a Hydrocele


Prior to my hernia surgery I’d not been told it was even a possibility, 15 years ago I had a hernia repair with no such issue or complication of any kind



After this latest hernia surgery the doctor assured me the Hydrocele would ‘go away on its own’ after 11 months it was still there, when I asked him how it could be addressed his answer was ‘I don’t know, you’re on your own’



If a Hydrocele is a common, subsequent complication of hernia surgery you’d think he would have told me but his ‘non answer’ and lack of interest in helping me had me wondering as to whether more could have been done but it doesn’t look like it



Anyway, the Hydrocele surgery seems to have gone according to plan, thanks for your replies

[421dog]

Unfortunately, with hour restrictions during residency, most graduating surgeons in the US can’t find their ass with their hands. They learn to do operations one way, (typically laparoscopically) and If things go tits up, they have no recourse.
id imagine it’s as bad in Britain and the EU...

[Radgirl]

‘I don’t know, you’re on your own’

I cannot believe any doctor would say this about a complication following their treatment. I suspect there is far more to it than we know.

However it appears from the expert responses that you had a known complication and it has been treated. As I often say to my patients, a 1% risk of a complication means that for one patient in a hundred it will be 100% and for the rest it will be zero. Sorry you have been the 1% and I regret you appear to have had a relationship breakdown with your surgeon, but I hope you can put it behind you and move on

[magyarflyer]

A hernia is an opening thru which something escapes into. In an inguinal hernia is the bowel which descends into the canal that leads to the scrotum. Classic hernia repairs are done In open fashion and there is no space left. When done laparoscopically the cavity occupied by the contents is still there, the opening protected by a mesh. Gravity and fluid from surgery collects into that space producing a.fluid collection, an iatrogenic hydrocele. Very common and mostly painless. When symptomatic and/persistent aspiration usually resolves the issue since there is no further fluid collection expected. Urologists unfamiliar with this sequela usually recommend removal of the pseudohydrocele. I warned my patients about this issue and have aspirated a few with no recurrence. Fluid is usually yellowish liquid and easily aspirated when seen early.