Looking For Referral For Laproscopic Surgery

[seesip]

This is for hernia repair, wondering if anyone has had a similar or related procedure? I usually go to RAM but any info would be appreciated. Many thanks.

[Suradit69]

In December I had a hernia repair done at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya. Only spent one night in the hospital, but since you're apparently located in Bangkok it would probably require one or two follow-up appointments so Pattaya would require more travel than you'd want. (Oops. sorry. Just realized this is in the CM forum. These new style email topic notices don't indicate the forum).

I initially was aiming for laparoscopic surgery too, but Dr. Paiboon (who did a great job for me) at BPH recommended open surgery. There are arguments pro and con for either approach. Aside from a bit of temporary nausea from the general anesthetic, I had no discomfort and was up & walking the following morning. Took pain killers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for one week afterward per instructions, but I was completely pain-free and only slightly aware of the incision site.

I'm not trying to sell open surgery to you, but at least I suggest you remain open to it depending on what your doctor recommends. One reason open is preferred is that the doctor can see and repair any secondary openings that would go unnoticed using the laparoscopic method. I've not had any problems, although if you Google hernia repair you'll find a wide range of opinions from those who have used either method.

Just as a reference, at BPK the open surgery cost me K96,000. They wanted a K 80,000 deposit and the total could be more if your stay was longer. Laparoscopic is considerably more expensive. I did check a couple of other hospitals. Their estimates were between Baht 100,000 and Baht 120,000 for the open procedure, so surprisingly BPH looked to be the least expensive of the three "international" hospitals I checked on.

I had originally gone to Queen Sirikit Hospital at the Naval installation in Sattahip. A great deal cheaper, but you'll need a Thai speaker to go with you and to stay in hospital with you. The doctors speak excellent English, but support staff don't. Unless it's an emergency, you would have to wait a considerable period for the surgery, but if you do a search on TV you'll find that those who had hernia surgery there were, for the most part, quite happy with their care and the result. I initially saw two surgeons and they did recommend the laparoscopic surgery, but after waiting a couple of months, they called to rescheduled again just two days before I was going in. So, I decided to go to BPH.

Good luck.

Edited April 15, 2013 by Suradit69

[market trader]

The OP mentioned the Ram which is Chiang Mai. Therefore I am presuming he would like to have his problem attended to in Chiang Mai. I know there is at least one surgeon at the Ram who does laproscopic surgery his name was mentioned to me late last year when a hernia I have was acting up. However it has not been giving me any problems lately and I have kind of forgotten about it.

[elektrified]

I assume you have an inguinal hernia? Most hernia surgeons will not do laparoscopic surgery unless you have a hernia on both sides.

Open surgery to repair a hernia is no big deal. I had mine done in the USA and I was out of the outpatient surgery center and up and around in about 3 hours time. I'm not sure what kind of hernia the above poster had repaired when he talks about spending the night in the hospital, taking antibiotics and other meds? A good hernia surgeon will have you up and around in a few hours time. They don't even use sutures anymore, they just glue up the incision. I think I was given 10 Vicodin when I was discharged and might have taken one or two but no real pain at all. The main thing which my surgeon stressed was to start doing light exercise as soon as possible, like walking, swimming, etc. - like within a week's time. Otherwise there is a pulling sensation and stiffness as the muscle tissue binds to the plastic mesh. Also the fees which the above poster quotes is what I paid for a top hernia surgeon in Los Angeles. I would think it would cost much less here.

Good luck and don't worry about it. Hernia surgery has been around for something like 500 years - seriously. It's down to a perfect science now.

[seesip]

I assume you have an inguinal hernia? Most hernia surgeons will not do laparoscopic surgery unless you have a hernia on both sides.

Open surgery to repair a hernia is no big deal. I had mine done in the USA and I was out of the outpatient surgery center and up and around in about 3 hours time. I'm not sure what kind of hernia the above poster had repaired when he talks about spending the night in the hospital, taking antibiotics and other meds? A good hernia surgeon will have you up and around in a few hours time. They don't even use sutures anymore, they just glue up the incision. I think I was given 10 Vicodin when I was discharged and might have taken one or two but no real pain at all. The main thing which my surgeon stressed was to start doing light exercise as soon as possible, like walking, swimming, etc. - like within a week's time. Otherwise there is a pulling sensation and stiffness as the muscle tissue binds to the plastic mesh. Also the fees which the above poster quotes is what I paid for a top hernia surgeon in Los Angeles. I would think it would cost much less here.

Good luck and don't worry about it. Hernia surgery has been around for something like 500 years - seriously. It's down to a perfect science now.

That's good to know, thanks. I think I have an umbilical hernia but that's a self diagnosis and I'll be heading in to Ram to check it out.