After childbirth, one-third to one-half of American women suffer from weakened or shifting pelvic organs – the bladder, rectum, urethra – which can cause pelvic organ prolapse (POP). POP occurs when supporting organs begin to sag (vaginal laxity) as a result of weakened muscles typically resulting from a combination of childbearing and aging, though young women can suffer, too.
The implant was designed as a thin screenlike polypropylene strip about the length and width of a sanitary pad and acts as a perforated “hammock” for surrounding pelvic tissue to grow into and around, ideally creating support for pelvic organs, and thereby, helping to prevent pelvic floor prolapse.
As often happens, though, when pelvic tissue does not attach to the frame or tissue thins and recedes from the mesh, the polypropylene may contract and harden (this is called erosion) and may cut into or attach to tissue and organs, potentially dislodging them, and potentially pushing organs out through the vagina (extrusion or protrusion).
The implants were designed to be permanent, but the polypropylene causes such painful side effects that it often has to be removed, along with surrounding tissue to which it has embedded.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 300,000 women in the US underwent surgical procedures using the mesh for prolapse each year from 2008 to 2019, and approximately 260,000 underwent surgical procedures to repair stress incontinence.3
Because so many women reported complications in 2009 (the year the first transvaginal mesh lawsuit was filed), the FDA in 2019 banned ALL transvaginal mesh implants from the market – for POP use only. In the US alone, more than 100,000 lawsuits are currently pending – 48,000 against Boston Scientific.
According to the NIH, complications may include malfunctions, injury, and death.4
