There have been dozens of reports of serious complications arising from the use of certain vaginal slings manufactured by Boston Scientific and Vesica Medical, Inc. These products are also referred to as referred to as: "pubo vaginal sling" "Vesica system," "Microvasive sling," and "collagen sling."
Some of the serious side effects include:
Vaginal tissure erosion and infectionSurgical incision splitting apart (dehisence)
Vaginal Bleeding
The surgical wound site never healed with the sling implanted
Women who have been implanted with a ProteGen vaginal sling need long term follow-up due to the high risk of tissue erosion.
The ProteGen sling was on the market from March of 1997 until the recall in January of 1999. If you had surgery that falls out side this window of time, especially if it is before March of 1997, you can safely assume it is not a ProteGen product. However some doctors were not aware of the recall and implanted ProteGen slings after January 1999.
Some women have been implanted with the Vesica System without a ProteGen Sling.