Charles W. Nager, MD Dr. Nager is Professor of Clinical Reproductive Medicine, and Director, Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at University of California San Diego Health Care System.
Dr. Nager reports no financial relationships relevant to this article.
How do you respond when your patient asks about mesh use in her surgical procedure?
The July 2011 FDA safety warning urged patients to ask their surgeons about the benefits and risks of mesh use before going forward with surgery involving synthetic mesh. The American Urogynecologic Society developed the AUGS Transvaginal Mesh Informed Consent Toolkit to aid surgeons in answering patients’ questions. This toolkit is available online (www.augs.org/informedconsent). Among other resources, you will find guidance on answering the following questions:
Why do you think I am a good candidate for mesh?
Why are you choosing surgical mesh for my repair?
How likely is it that my repair could be successfully performed without using surgical mesh?
What results have other patients had with this product?
Which specific side effects should I report to you after surgery?
INSTANT POLL. How do you educate your patients on the use of surgical mesh? Click here
