Small Bowel Obstruction Caused by Bezoar Formation Around Intraluminal Hernia Mesh

Abstract

We present a case report wherein a 55-year-old female presented to our clinic with chronic nausea, vomiting, and dehydration in the setting of a complex past surgical history, including laparoscopic incisional hernia repair in 2007 with intraperitoneal TiMeshTM. She then developed chronic nausea and vomiting and was hospitalized numerous times for dehydration. Due to her ongoing symptoms, she was taken to the operating room for exploration. A large, firm, mobile mass was identified within a loop of small bowel and was found to be a large bezoar firmly attached to a piece of intraluminal mesh. She progressed well postoperatively and, on outpatient follow-up, her pre-operative abdominal symptoms had completely resolved. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of gallstone-like bezoar formation around an intraluminal hernia mesh causing small bowel obstruction and chronic abdominal pain.