The No Insurance Surgery Website is undergoing a HTML5 and platform update to the latest mobile first technology. Each page of this website is rewritten by and backed by Dr. Petersen, his experience and medical literature. Medical literature references are included with most pages. You will find that he has a much different point of view than the majority of surgeons.
There is much medical literature that shows that specialty hospitals, such as the Shouldice Hospital Thornton Canada, Individual expert surgeons such as, Dr. Rutledge and Dr. Petersen achieve recurrence rates of less than 3% with non-mesh hernia repair. Non-expert surgeons, it is said, have a recurrence rate of 30%.
The importance of mesh-free hernia surgery is that it avoids the number one serious and common complication of hernia surgery, severe chronic hernia mesh pain. In Dr. Petersen's 36 year experience he has had 3 patients develop significant post herniorrhaphy pain. However no patient developed pain severe enough to inhibit routine activities. This is also is the experience of the Shouldice Hospital. The first time that hernia mesh pain was reported in the medical literature was in 1998, 5 years after hernia mesh repairs were designated the standard of care. Dr. Petersen's first hernia mesh removal for severe chronic pain was preformed in 1995.
The estimates of of the incidence mesh vary widely from 5% to 30%. We have concluded that the actual incidence of hernia mesh pain is overall 20% and the incidence of mesh pain severe enough to inhibit activity is 5%.
The primary cause of hernia mesh pain is the reaction of our innate immune system to a foreign body, the foreign body reaction which is chronic inflammation. There are other ways mesh causes pain such as migration, contraction into a meshoma and invasion of nearby viscera and nerves. This premise explain why mesh explant is the only truly effective treatment for hernia mesh pain.
Dr Kevin C. Petersen has 36 years experience as a board certified general surgeon and hernia surgery specialist. He also has 28 years experience as a hernia mesh explant surgeon for patients with crippling hernia mesh pain.
He has broad experience in surgery including the above, transplant surgery, vascular surgery, Chicago based trauma surgery and surgical critical care. He is a member of SAG having had a small part in the movie Backdraft playing a critical care surgeon. He was the director of the surgical ICU at the time.
He graduated in the top of his class in college earning a degree in physics. He graduated in the top of his class in medical school. He graduated in the top of his class in surgical training.
He is retired from clinical practice but still has an interest in promoting mesh free hernia surgery and hernia mesh removal as the most effective treatment of hernia mesh pain. He has extensive knowledge in these areas and wishes to make to anybody who needs it. He is available for consultation for patients and attorneys.
Dr. Petersen may be contacted by email at kevincpetersen@gmail.com