Study suggests women who have corrective surgery after mesh complications are more prone to depression

Women who have had complications following pelvic mesh implants and have had to have corrective surgery are increasingly likely to suffer from depression and possibly self-harm, according to a study by researchers at ICES.

Researchers found that out of 60,000 women from Ontario who had a mesh implant, 1586 (2.8%) underwent a surgical procedure for a mesh complication. Of those women, 11% (175 women) were treated for depression compared to 8% of women (4,470) who didn’t have corrective surgery. Of the women who needed corrective surgery, 2.77% of women suffered from self-harm behaviour compared to only 1.15% of women who did not need corrective surgery. These risks were highest in younger women.

ICES is an independent, non-profit research institute that uses population-based health information to produce insight on healthcare issues.

Dr Blayne Welk, senior author of the study and adjunct scientist at ICES Western and assistant professor at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry said: “There have been regulatory warnings and lawsuits related to significant transvaginal mesh complications. We wanted to quantify the serious psychological complications that can occur in women as a result of complications from transvaginal midurethral slings.

“Younger women are the ones who are most at risk of these mental health complications, and we suspect that’s because of a stronger negative association between the complications and intimacy among this age group.”

Women with stress urinary incontinence leak urine when they cough, sneeze, laugh or are physically active. Mesh slings are made of synthetic polypropylene which are surgically implanted in the vaginal wall to treat urinary leakage. Mesh-based incontinence slings account for more than 90% of incontinence procedures in women.

The researchers added that when women experience midurethral sling complications, both they and their surgeons should be aware of the potential serious psychological impact of complications.