Chronic abdominal pain secondary to mesh erosion into cecum following incisional hernia repair: a case report and literature review

Abstract

Incisional hernias following abdominal operations are a common complication. Mesh is frequently employed in repair of these hernias. Given the popularity of minimally invasive surgery utilizing polypropylene mesh for incisional hernia repair, related complications such postoperative hematoma and seroma, foreign body reaction, organ injury, infection, mesh rejection, and fistula are being noted. Mesh migration is an infrequent occurrence, and is rarely reported in the literature. Those that are usually involve the urinary bladder. In particular, review of literature shows that no reports of cases of mesh migration into the cecum several years after an open type incisional hernia repair. We present a case of delayed transmural mesh migration from the abdominal wall into the cecum presenting as chronic abdominal pain.