Hernia repairs using surgical mesh (FOI)

Request

A

Please can you confirm what surgical mesh fittings are currently offered in Jersey?

Please can you also provide figures for the following:

B

The number of people who have been fitted with a hernia mesh in Jersey since 2011

C

The number of cases of complications that have arisen as a result of a hernia mesh fitting in Jersey since 2011

Response

A

The type of the mesh used is determined by the surgery to be performed, and takes into account any patient specific requirements as well as the surgeons preference.

Currently the main suppliers of surgical mesh are Medtronic, Ethicon and PFM Medical.

B

From 1 January 2012 to December 2020 there have been 1808 episodes of hernia repairs using mesh according to clinical coding. Please note that at the time of running this report not all procedures have been coded. It is also noted that the procedure codes used are not exclusively used for insertion of mesh to repair hernias, but that these are the only procedures seen locally that would be attributed to these codes.

C

The information requested is not held in a reportable format for the purposes of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Complications are coded by type and not exclusively for post-operative issues. Additionally, whilst complications could occur in the same admission as the hernia repair procedure, they may not occur until after discharge and may not then require any further admission. It is therefore not possible to provide an accurate response to this question.