My Inguinal Hernia Surgery In Bangkok Experience And Recommendations

[Touhukasta]

First of all I do not recommend getting a surgery for your hernia even if you are young like me (mid-twenties), unless it bothers your daily life a lot for a month or strangulates or becomes very big. When my hernia first started to bother me too much I went ahead and did research on where to do the surgery in Bangkok, got tested and got a surgery appointment but actually after that me and my body got used to the problems caused by hernia so it wasn't bothering my daily life way too much even though I could see the hernia sticking out easily. Since I had the appointment and I didn't know that the recovery would be so long and so painful, I went ahead with the surgery at chulalongkorn hospital.

If you will do an open surgery, be prepared to stay in the hospital for 1 - 2 nights after surgery. More if there's complications.

Not only are the first nights after surgery very painful and stressful and the full recovery time around 3 months unless you do laparoscopic surgery, (which has a higher chance of complications/mistakes unless the surgeon is very experienced with laparoscopic surgery. I feared the complications enough to believe my Chulalongkorn doctor and go with the oldschool open tension sutures open incision method without a mesh but it seems the chance of complications are high no matter what kind of a hernia surgery you get.)

- Tip of my penis got infected due to poor hygiene in the hospital. Also my balls are losing skin cause of my stay there, for whatever reason. Maybe because of a nurse not washing it fully. Now I'm taking antibiotics which I believe will clear the dick's problems.

- Right now 3.5 days after surgery my groin area is utterly numb and showing no signs of improvement. My dick works however. I suspect the surgeon cut my nerve either intentionally without consulting me (to lessen the chance of a long-term post operative pain complication) or accidentally. So the feeling often takes months to come back or maybe never comes back. Also for some stranger reason 20% of my left hand is half-numb, this I believe has a higher chance of being temporary.

- I also still have plenty of pain and can't really go far from my room.

- You will most likely get a bloated stomach and constipation after surgery.

Unless you are on a very tight budget and honestly cannot afford to spend 30000+ baht in a surgery, do not go to any public hospital in Bangkok unless you speak Thai fluently and don't care about the half the time unfriendly and always busy nurses and potentially having to sleep in a ward with old sick people like I had to. Saint Louis for example is a high quality private non-profit hospital and while 7 times more expensive than chulalongkorn (based on the estimate that they gave me), your time and mental health is valuable enough to go to a private hospital instead. However, if it's all about the money to you, you can go to a public hospital even without being able to speak thai much. (Someone can help you translate enough to at least get it done.)

I researched a few other hospitals as well, but these came out to the top of my list:

My recommendation:

Saint Louis Hospital:

- Non-profit private.

- High quality facilities with experienced, smart surgeons.

- Their all-inclusive November 2012 price estimate that I got by asking them inside the hospital: 60000 baht for open surgery. 110,000 for laparoscopic surgery. I would guess that these figures overshoot the average bill a bit.

Public hospital:

Siriraj or Chulalongkorn hospital.

About chulalongkorn hospital

* I did my inguinal hernia surgery here.

* Some hours spent just to get a patient card and a doctor's appointment. Many more hours just to see the doctor for the first time visit. Then several more hours spent on a another day for pre-surgery testing.

* Expect to get appointment for surgery 3 - 5 weeks after your first visit. Expect them to potentially cancel and re-schedule their surgery appointment due to lack of overnight stay beds. Regardless of your reservation, due to emergency patients.

* No one tells you almost anything at any point unless you ask (and are able to ask in Thai), you just follow their lead. You will hardly know what they do in the present, you will not know about their future plans unless you manage to ask them.

* You have to go there one day before surgery and stay for the night. So for no good reason they make you go there for "preparations" 16+ hours before surgery. This is not the policy of private hospitals. In a normal hospital you would go like 3 hours before surgery.

* Preparations: Shaving of your "moi", pubic hair. Laxative up your ass, no drinking or eating for 12 hours. Signing of a couple of papers.

* Students will be watching your surgery, while you are naked and awake. My surgery lasted for 1.5 hours and wasn't without pain and discomfort. I thought that was bad but the first nights in recovery was way worse.

* Nurses do not speak any English here. Or maybe like 2% of them do. I met dozens.

* General doctors do not speak English well here, surgeons do however but they will not have time to answer your questions.

* My total hospital expenses including pre surgery testing such as chest x-ray, blood and STD tests etc., surgery, nursing fees, and 3 nights in the hospital and 5 meals was about 10000 baht.

(1 was a preparation night in a ward with 8 old sick people, 2 were nights spent after surgery in a 2-patient non-private room that happened to be half-empty for me)

* Surgery done in December 2012.

If you want better care but absolutely can't pay more than 40000 baht I recommend:

Camillian Hospital

- non-profit cheapest private hospital at thong lor soi 20.

- Partially donation supported.

- Equipment and facilities not state of the art. Comparable to quality with public hospitals. As in, when you go in there the reception room looks pretty awful. The overnight stay rooms seem to be decent.

- Surgeons experienced but old.

- Expect to pay 18000 - 40000 baht. Depending on what type of surgery, what room and how many nights you stay etc.

Many studies suggest tension free mesh surgery is the best open hernia surgery choice in general. Make sure they know to put a high quality mesh in place otherwise complications are common. Only laparoscopic surgery can provide faster recovery times.

[Soutpeel]

Here is my experience with a similar procedure some 7 years ago at Bangkok Rayong hospital, mesh repair or laparoscopic repair were not an option, had an open repair:

Visited the hosptial on Saturday afternoon, after my groin swelled up...seen a Surgeon within 30 minute for examination, booked in for surgery first thing Monday morning, surgery completed and in recovery around noon Monday, 2 days in hospital, sent home with instructions to stay on my back as much as possible for a week, after which light work duty for 4 weeks ( I work O&G)....after that back to normal, never had a problem since....if memory serves total cost was around THB 88k

Considering it was a medical procedure.....all in all a very positive experience and BKK Rayong staff outstanding, couldnt has asked for better care....

[thaibeachlovers]

Unfortunately, surgery always has risk, even in supposed first world countries. I had major surgery in a London hospital, and the experience was as bad as yours- only difference was, it was free for me ( NHS ).

[Sheryl]

It is [pssible in a go ernment hospital to obtain a private room, and even private duty nurses, at extra cost but wil still come out well below what a pvt hosp costs. The language barrier and red tape issues wil remain tho.

[lopburi3]

Although possible getting a private room at a facility such as Chula is not easy as they are almost always full and not much cheaper than normal private hospitals - they are large rooms but not that well provided (manual beds in main tower building a few years ago when we used).

[Touhukasta]

Yes I tried to get a private room at Chula. In fact I had one booked but it was no longer available when I had my appointment.

They do have a button pushing mechanism to call the nurses, so whatever you really need apart from mental support/just talking or cleaning you properly or cleaning the room (dirty dirty dirty) will be taken care of by the busy nurses.

[Pormax]

I had a Inguinal Hernia done one month ago, See previous post of mine asking about Inguinal Hernia Repair.

Done in Buriram private hospital under local anesthetic. Wanted a mesh inserted as this is now the preferred method but surgeon

said they not do.

Saw doctor 6pm on a Saturday, came back next morning 8am for operation at 11am.

I had already shaved the area, so had bloods taken, had an ECG and chest x-ray. No laxitive.

Was asked not to eat or drink from midniight but this is really not neccesary unless one is having a general aneasthetic

Operation took just less than an hour. Felt a little pushing in the area during the procedure but no pain at all. Could have waited in recovery room for 4 hrs then gone home but wife and family could not be with me in recovery, so wife booked a private room (1,800B per day) which was large and very nice. Stayed until 4pm and went home with lots of pills.

Total cost 16,002B.

Testicles and penis went very black, (back to normal after 5 days) discomfort and considerable pain for about a week.

Was not told to lie down for any period of time just mainly sat or lied around watching TV.

After one week, stiches removed, still pain in the area but more like a burning sensation and swollen around wound area but wound itself clean and dry. More pills prescribed for pain and muscle relaxant. (cost 300B)

2nd week pain much less but still discomfort. Some loss of sensation around the lower part of the wound area but this is what I expected as a small nerve is often purposely cut during the procedure, this numbness should go in time but really not a problem.

Second check up and still a lump under the scar area which as I thought is a heamotoma (pool of blood). Recommended a hot compress to help disperse the blood quicker. The only other problem I have at this time is that after a short period of walking (less than 400 metres) i a numbness travelling down the side of my thigh. This is caused by the femural nerve being shoved and pulled around during the op and again given time should resolve itself. Sit down for 2 or 3 minutes and normal sensation returns. (cost 50B)

Do not understand the OP having numbness in the hand as the nerves involved in the groin do not have a connection to the hand. Have had no bloating of the stomach or constipation. There again complete mystery to me why you should have an infected dick. The groin is the only area that should be exposed during the operation and there is no need for your dick or testicles to be touched.

My only complaint was that I was not given any post operative instructions or what to expect. I have spent my whole working life in the medical field including qualifying as a nurse (a few moons ago) but had no idea what to expect. Like most people in the medical field I am not the best of patient wanting to do this and that when I shouldn't do.

Now almost 4 weeks, tender around the scar area when touched, lump slowly getting smaller, otherwise feel fine.

[Touhukasta]

Thanks for sharing your experience pormax. I do not have stiches outside by the way, only a tape/blaster. Inside stitches were put to make muscles block the hernia hole, making it less likely to re-occur but not as effective as a mesh.

Moving and stretching muscles forcefully like that surely makes the recovery longer and more painful than a tension-free method.

Infected penis tip probably because of my hands and bed being so dirty or the residual shaving cream that was not properly cleaned getting on the tip of the penis. Had nothing to do with the surgery itself I'm sure but with the cleanliness of the hospital/nurses, yes. It's not major. I think my hand got numb because of having the morphene injection spike in place for over 24 hours and using that hand to get up from bed anyways and my the back of my left hand having a big looking but non-painful bruise.

Constipation and bloating gone.

Edited December 7, 2012 by Touhukasta

[thaibeachlovers]

I had a Inguinal Hernia done one month ago, See previous post of mine asking about Inguinal Hernia Repair.

Done in Buriram private hospital under local anesthetic. Wanted a mesh inserted as this is now the preferred method but surgeon

said they not do.

Saw doctor 6pm on a Saturday, came back next morning 8am for operation at 11am.

I had already shaved the area, so had bloods taken, had an ECG and chest x-ray. No laxitive.

Was asked not to eat or drink from midniight but this is really not neccesary unless one is having a general aneasthetic

Operation took just less than an hour. Felt a little pushing in the area during the procedure but no pain at all. Could have waited in recovery room for 4 hrs then gone home but wife and family could not be with me in recovery, so wife booked a private room (1,800B per day) which was large and very nice. Stayed until 4pm and went home with lots of pills.

Total cost 16,002B.

Testicles and penis went very black, (back to normal after 5 days) discomfort and considerable pain for about a week.

Was not told to lie down for any period of time just mainly sat or lied around watching TV.

After one week, stiches removed, still pain in the area but more like a burning sensation and swollen around wound area but wound itself clean and dry. More pills prescribed for pain and muscle relaxant. (cost 300B)

2nd week pain much less but still discomfort. Some loss of sensation around the lower part of the wound area but this is what I expected as a small nerve is often purposely cut during the procedure, this numbness should go in time but really not a problem.

Second check up and still a lump under the scar area which as I thought is a heamotoma (pool of blood). Recommended a hot compress to help disperse the blood quicker. The only other problem I have at this time is that after a short period of walking (less than 400 metres) i a numbness travelling down the side of my thigh. This is caused by the femural nerve being shoved and pulled around during the op and again given time should resolve itself. Sit down for 2 or 3 minutes and normal sensation returns. (cost 50B)

Do not understand the OP having numbness in the hand as the nerves involved in the groin do not have a connection to the hand. Have had no bloating of the stomach or constipation. There again complete mystery to me why you should have an infected dick. The groin is the only area that should be exposed during the operation and there is no need for your dick or testicles to be touched.

My only complaint was that I was not given any post operative instructions or what to expect. I have spent my whole working life in the medical field including qualifying as a nurse (a few moons ago) but had no idea what to expect. Like most people in the medical field I am not the best of patient wanting to do this and that when I shouldn't do.

Now almost 4 weeks, tender around the scar area when touched, lump slowly getting smaller, otherwise feel fine.

<Was asked not to eat or drink from midniight but this is really not necessary unless one is having a general aneasthetic>

There is always the possibility that in the event of some complication, a GA might become necessary, so it is important not to eat or drink pre surgery if told not to do so.

[thaibeachlovers]

Thanks for sharing your experience pormax. I do not have stiches outside by the way, only a tape/blaster. Inside stitches were put to make muscles block the hernia hole, making it less likely to re-occur but not as effective as a mesh.

Moving and stretching muscles forcefully like that surely makes the recovery longer and more painful than a tension-free method.

Infected penis tip probably because of my hands and bed being so dirty or the residual shaving cream that was not properly cleaned getting on the tip of the penis. Had nothing to do with the surgery itself I'm sure but with the cleanliness of the hospital/nurses, yes. It's not major. I think my hand got numb because of having the morphene injection spike in place for over 24 hours and using that hand to get up from bed anyways and my the back of my left hand having a big looking but non-painful bruise.

Constipation and bloating gone.

< I think my hand got numb because of having the morphene injection spike in place for over 24 hours >

Seems unlikely to me. IV cannulae can be in place for days without causing numbness.

[Touhukasta]

I mean I had the needle in me so long that the needle probably moved in me and destroyed a nerve while I was using the hand.. for example when I got up from the bed with the help of that hand. Or maybe the nerve was damaged when they first put it unsuccessfully in me and then had to find another spot. Looks like I wasn't scared of needles for no reason haha.