Women in the United Kingdom are enraged and are forming alliances to stop a surgical procedure being offered at clinics at hospitals, which have caused them so much pain and trauma. Tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) is used in mothers experiencing prolapse and incontinence after giving birth.
While some have no complaints of the surgical mesh, almost 8,000 British women claim the plastic device has caused drastic effects on their health and lives. TVT was introduced more than 20 years ago as another option to more complicated and rather expensive repair surgery.
The TVT procedure costs less than an estimated $1,250. It is done as a day surgery compared to three nights of admission in a hospital for the traditional approach. The majority of the complaints involve the hard plastic material disintegrated inside the women's' bodies, slicing into the soft tissue it was meant to hold in place.
A campaign of a review into the mesh, led by Julia Cumberlege, a British Conservative Party politician and businesswoman, was initiated in 2018. Next Wednesday, that report will finally be published. However, campaigners are worried that it would not go far enough.
Sources say the report will call for the organization of a network of seven regional centers. The facilities would then be staffed by gynecologists, urologists, colorectal surgeons, and pain specialists who are capable of performing the surgery involved in the removal of the mesh.
It is also expected to call for a compulsory register of all mesh operations. Furthermore, details of any woman undergoing the procedure should also be recorded. However, insiders have been told this the process could take three years to set up. Additionally, it also would not be retrospective.
TVT Surgery Complications
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received reports of women who have received the mesh having some sort of complications. In 2019, it ordered manufacturers of surgical mesh designed for transvaginal repair of pelvic organ prolapse to stop selling all devices.
In many cases, women have experienced chronic and painful infections due to the mesh being embedded deep into their reproductive organs. Some claim that even after removing the plastic, stabbing pains would still be felt as it would cause nerve damage.
Some have been left unable to work due to TVT tape problems. Even worse, in a few cases, some women can't even walk and are now in wheelchairs. Moreover, the mesh has also destroyed sexual function, which has caused several marriages to fail.
For years, women affected were frequently dismissed and told by medics that their symptoms were all ''in mind.'
Although the mesh has been banned in some countries, including Australia and New Zealand, regulators in the U.K. have only agreed to put a temporary halt in its use.
Furthermore, it could mean that the procedure could still be offered to many women if a register is put in place.
TVT Tape Problems
Thousands and probably even millions of women from around the world are experiencing TVT tape problems. Kath Sansom, who initiated a support group called "Sling The Mesh," shares her own issues with the plastic device.
She had the mesh implanted back in 2015 to correct mild incontinence after her two daughters' birth. However, like so many others, she suffered problems with it. After six months, she had it removed, but it was too late. She says the damage has been done, and she had to give up many things in her life due to the excruciating pain she felt.
The mesh, a foreign material inserted in the body, can cause allergic reactions as the immune system tries to reject it. This has been the case for many women as well, including Professor Sue Black, a candidate in the London Mayoral election.
Her own problems with the TVT tape caused her to drop everything, including her campaign. Health concerns regarding the mesh are real, and she advocates promoting women's health by protecting them from such harmful devices offered by doctors.
