Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A "Mesh" of a Situation

The diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) frequently is made after the exclusion of a mechanical etiology for a patient's symptoms. This case demonstrates that IBS symptoms can be caused by a rare complication of a common surgery: mesh herniorrhaphy repair. The patient is a 50-year-old woman who underwent periumbilical Marlex mesh herniorrhaphy 13 years before presentation. After her operation, the patient developed constipation (approximately one bowel movement per week) alternating with diarrhea for approximately 10 years. An abdominal radiograph showed large amounts of stool, and after a normal colonoscopy the patient was diagnosed with IBS. The patient was treated with tegaserod (Zelnorm) and polyethylene glycol (MiraLAX), which did not palliate her symptoms. The patient presented with obstructive symptoms and physical findings of an incarcerated umbilical hernia. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen confirmed an umbilical hernia involving a segment of small bowel with surrounding fecalization of enteric contents. During operative repair, the patient was found to have Marlex mesh fully eroded into the lumen of the small bowel, causing a partial obstruction. The involved section of small bowel was resected, and during serial follow-up the patient had complete resolution of her IBS-like symptoms. A discussion follows regarding the implications of mesh migration, and questions are posed for future research. (J Am Board Fam Med 2012; 25: 120-123.)