Hernia.

[mikesensei]

Inguinal Hernia - recent feedback - where to go? Chiang Mai or Pattaya?

A well trodden path, but I was wondering if anyone here has had any recent (within the last 3-4 months) experience of having had surgery for this in either Pattaya or Chiang Mai, and if so which hospital, (international or public), how much was it and was the procedure acceptable in terms of process and outcome. It seems that sometimes the postings here discussing this vary widely in reviews, which is totally understandable, but in the hope of a clearer and more recent review/report, I ask once again. Thanks!

[NickJ]

There is a hospital in Phetaburi that has a surgeon that pretty much just repairs hernias. I had mine done there three years ago. It's around fifty k. With staying the night before and the night after. It's the first hospital you see from the highway. The private one. The second one is a govt hospital. 

Great results. Great Dr.

[elektrified]

Inguinal hernia repair has been practiced for literally hundreds of years. There is no mystery to it. If you go to any reputable general surgeon with a number of years experience in repairing hernias using the open, mesh technique - you will be fine. When you go to meet with the surgeons, ask them how many hernias they have repaired. When I had mine done, I settled on the guy who had done more than 5,000 of them and told me that I would be up and on my way home within 3 hours of the surgery; which I was. I only took the pain medicine the first day. There is absolutely no reason to spend a night in the hospital nowadays for open inguinal hernia surgery. I had mine done in an outpatient surgical center. The surgeon did mine, and about 3 or 4 other patients, all before lunch time.

 

If you opt for the laparoscopic surgery which is recommended if you have hernias on both sides, or other types of hernias, then you will need to seek out a surgeon with experience doing this. You may need to stay one night in the hospital. If you only have a hernia on one side then there is no need for it.

 

In C.M., Rajavej, Sriphat, Lanna, and C.M. RAM would all have general surgeons with experience repairing inguinal hernias.

 

Don't worry about a thing. It is probably the most common surgical procedure. The one thing I recommend which my surgeon encouraged is to start exercising almost immediately; starting with walking, then swimming after about 2 weeks. It really helps to prevent "stiffness" and the tugging sensation as the muscles start growing back together and binding to the mesh. 

Edited July 15, 2017 by elektrified

[Rama]

All the hospitals do it. Do some comparison shopping as the doctors will vary widely. I had about 5 years ago and the prices varied between 30k to 100k - for the same operation. 

[prism]

Had mine done at CM Ram about 3 years ago. Both sides by laparoscopic surgery. Unfortunately, one side has herniated again last year and there was considerable bruising after the surgery. Hard for me to recommend them. Bangkok Hospital CM does them by laparoscopic surgery for 100K for one side. Since laparoscopic surgery requires general anesthesia, I opted to spend a night in the hospital, not much more in costs. If it's just one side, I might follow electrified's example and save considerable money.  

[CMBob]

Also had mine done at CM Ram in April of 2015.  Was done by general surgery......went into the hospital in the morning and was home before 5PM.  Was quite happy with the result and what's a bit weird is I can't even find the scar nowadays (whoever sewed me up was a master).  Total cost was 58k baht. 

[elektrified]

3 hours ago, CMBob said:

Also had mine done at CM Ram in April of 2015.  Was done by general surgery......went into the hospital in the morning and was home before 5PM.  Was quite happy with the result and what's a bit weird is I can't even find the scar nowadays (whoever sewed me up was a master).  Total cost was 58k baht. 

The reason there is no scar is because nobody ever "sewed you up". They haven't done that in years now. The old method of sewing up layers is what kept hernia patients in the hospital for days or even a week (or more). Now they use 2 sutures to hold the mesh in place and glue you up.