Vaginal surgical mesh ops to treat incontinence should ONLY be used as last resort
Surgery can cause agonising pain, sex issues and injury to the bladder or bowel
VAGINAL mesh should only be offered to women as a last resort, health bosses have stated in a new draft document.
They've been prescribed previously to treat pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence after childbirth.
The guideline, from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), comes after hundreds of women sued the NHS earlier this year, saying that the mesh ops had left them unable to walk or have sex.
Typically those who seek treatment for this are over the age of 50 who have had several children, are overweight or suffered a vaginal tear.
Complaints include persistent pain, sexual problems, mesh exposure through vaginal tissues and occasionally injury to nearby organs, such as the bladder or bowel.
Problems are usually caused by the mesh eroding and breaking down into smaller pieces which move.
Back in July, vaginal mesh ops were paused until certain conditions were met - including the publication of NICE's guidelines.
The Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review said at the time that "we must stop exposing women to the risk of life-changing and life-threatening injuries".
Now the NICE draft document has said that women should try a range of techniques before a mesh is even considered.
Non-surgical options for urinary incontinence include lifestyle changes like reducing the amount of caffeine and fluids consumed, and losing weight.
Pelvic floor muscle training, behavioural therapies for bladder training and medication are all also options.
Pelvic organ prolapse can also be treated without surgery by getting women to avoid any heavy lifting, reducing the risk of constipation, and getting them to do pelvic floor muscle training.
Mesh implants, these new guidelines insist, should only be offered after these no-surgical options have failed or aren't possible.
And it says that women should be made fully aware of the risks having the surgery can come with.
Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of Nice, said: "It is important that every woman is supported to make decisions that are right for her, consents to a procedure, and fully understands the benefits and risks of the procedure being offered before consenting to it.
"Where surgical mesh/tape could be an option, there is almost always another intervention recommended in our guideline, which does not involve surgical mesh/tape.
"If a surgeon cannot provide a full range of choices to the patient, then she should be referred to one who can."
He went on to say that all procedures involving the use of surgical mesh or tape in operations for these issues should be recorded, with a follow-up appointment six months after surgery to be check for any side effects.
"Surgeons must also record any intervention using surgical mesh/tape in a national database."
But not everyone believes that these draft guidelines go far enough.
Kath Sansom of the campaign group Sling The Mesh said: "Our ideal scenario is to see pelvic mesh stopped. Full stop. The risks are too great.
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"It is totally unacceptable that women come out of a 'simple little operation' with shattered lives.
"One in seven have lost their marriages because of mesh. One in seven have lost their sex life. Eight out of 10 suffer pain so great it affects their daily life.
"More than half suffer ongoing urinary infections. Unsurprisingly many are suicidal and six in 10 are on anti-depressants."
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