{"id":396800,"date":"2025-09-04T08:45:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T08:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/396800\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T08:45:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T08:45:17","slug":"calls-for-halt-to-mesh-surgery-after-surgeon-tony-dixon-struck-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/396800\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls for halt to mesh surgery after surgeon Tony Dixon struck off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matthew HillBBC News, West of England Health correspondent<\/p>\n

\"BBCBBC<\/p>\n

Kath Sansom from Sling the Mesh said women have “suffered horrific complications” from the mesh surgery<\/p>\n

Calls are being made for an immediate suspension of rectopexy bowel mesh surgery after the surgeon who pioneered the procedure was struck off. <\/p>\n

Bristol surgeon Tony Dixon was removed from the medical register<\/a> for serious misconduct, including performing unnecessary surgeries and fabricating patient records.<\/p>\n

Patient safety campaigners and MPs say there is now growing concern over the credibility of his research, which underpins the procedure used to treat bowel conditions.<\/p>\n

Kath Sansom, founder of the patient-led campaign group Sling the Mesh, said: “The government must suspend rectopexy mesh procedures immediately and launch a full review.”<\/p>\n

The Department for Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence there are “well\u2011recognised, serious but infrequent complications” with this type of surgery.<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/p>\n

Tony Dixon used artificial mesh to treat hundreds of bowel problems<\/p>\n

An investigation by the BBC and a review by Southmead Hospital and Spire Hospital, found that more than 460 patients were harmed after Dixon operated on them unnecessarily<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Through the procedure, mesh implants are placed into the body to treat pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence in women – both of which can occur after childbirth.<\/p>\n

The mesh, which is usually made from synthetic polypropylene, is intended to repair damaged or weakened tissue.<\/p>\n

But Ms Sansom said: “Women have suffered horrific complications – pain, mesh erosion where it slices into nearby organs and tissues, nerve damage – and many were never warned. <\/p>\n

“Our rectopexy members suffer some of the most horrific life-changing complications, including a high number now living with stoma bags as a result.” <\/p>\n

Rectopexy mesh is currently the most widely used type of pelvic mesh in the UK.<\/p>\n

Mr Dixon pioneered the LVMR (laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy) procedure and promoted it through a series of studies.<\/p>\n

But two separate tribunals found him to have performed operations on five patients without obtaining informed consent and that one of these procedures was not clinically indicated. <\/p>\n

They also found that he failed to provide post operative care and to have dishonestly created patient records long after he was involved in their care. <\/p>\n

Mr Dixon denied all the allegations against him.<\/p>\n

Some of his studies are now flagged with formal editorial warnings due to concerns about the validity of the data. <\/p>\n

One of his research papers has been withdrawn and nine further research papers are now under expressions of concern in medical journals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ms Sansom said: “We are appalled that the most used pelvic mesh procedure in the UK has been pioneered by a doctor who has been struck off and whose research is either withdrawn or under investigation. <\/p>\n

“According to patient accounts shared within our group, many women who underwent surgery performed by Tony Dixon report that they were never sent a follow-up questionnaire to assess their outcomes. <\/p>\n

“This contrasts with published claims stating that every patient operated on within a certain time frame received such questionnaires.”<\/p>\n

Sharon Hodgson MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on First Do No Harm – Mesh, Primodos and Valproate, is supporting the call for an urgent suspension of rectopexy mesh.<\/p>\n

“This is exactly the kind of systemic failure that the Cumberlege Review warned us about,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We cannot allow research flagged with concerns and under scrutiny to inform clinical practice – especially when it risks patient safety.”<\/p>\n

The First Do No Harm report<\/a>, chaired by Baroness Julia Cumberlege in 2020, urged systemic change in how patient harms are recognised and addressed.<\/p>\n

As well as a suspension of rectopexy mesh procedures campaigners are calling for a full, independent safety review to be conducted.<\/p>\n

They have also said they want to see transparency and accountability from NHS bodies and medical regulators and support and compensation for patients harmed by rectopexy mesh.<\/p>\n

The controversy echoes previous pelvic mesh scandals that led to thousands of women across the UK suffering life-altering complications. <\/p>\n

The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory ( MHRA) said it is now carrying out a review of rectopexy mesh.<\/p>\n

An email from the MHRA to a patient support group noted the range of mesh used in patients were wider than those indicated by manufacturers. <\/p>\n

The MHRA said it wants to engage with manufacturers to address using mesh “off label” for purposes it was not originally designed for.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which regularly reviews and updates guidelines on the use of medical devices, said the study co-authored by Mr Dixon “was one of many considered” by its independent committee.<\/p>\n

“The recommendation recognises the current evidence on the safety of laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy for internal rectal prolapse shows there are well\u2011recognised, serious but infrequent complications,” it added.<\/p>\n

“The evidence on efficacy and safety is limited in quality. Therefore, this procedure should only be used with special arrangements for clinical governance, consent and audit or research.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matthew HillBBC News, West of England Health correspondent BBC Kath Sansom from Sling the Mesh said women have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[105,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-396800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115145155139430218","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}