Plastic Surgery: Forum
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A rib was removed to allow the removal of my wifes kidney.

By busman0204 on 28 Dec 2010

After the surgery and recovery my wife has a noticible bulge from the internal organs shifting. Is there a protocol to place some kind of screen to cover the area of the missing rib? Besides being noticible, it appears to be quite uncomfortable. The surgeon said it would settle down but not yet.

Comments (4)

I had the same thing happen to me in Jan of 2008 and was told that the normal procedure to correct this bulge condition is to 'implant' a mesh screen that would pull back and hold the internal organs back in place. But i was also told that i would not be an ideal candidate for such surgery,because i was somewhat over-weight, and therefore, the mesh screen would probably fail. So nothing has ever been done yet. I'm thinking that maybe some sort of outside abdominal binder would help, but the dr has not suggested that at this point.
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Thanks for your answer. I was thinking along the same lines (mesh) for quite some time. The original "doctor" told her that this is normal so grin and bear it. NOT professional. Our GP said the mesh would help. Time to talk to the GP and a surgion.

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Hi busman0204. What an interesting question. You may also want to post on our Doctor Q&A forum for some advice. As this is an uncommon procedure, I'm not sure you'll encounter a lot of patients with first-hand experience. I know it's very possible to live without a rib or two, as some people have them removed for cosmetic reasons. How long ago was her surgery?

Good luck and I hope your wife is feeling better soon.

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I had the same thing happen to me.
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