THOUSANDS of women could have been spared complications from mesh surgery, a damning review has concluded.

Women told the review team of 'excruciating chronic pain feeling like razors inside their body', damage to organs, the loss of mobility and sex life and depression and suicidal thoughts.

A number of mesh-injured women said their doctors, surgeons or GPs 'ignored or dismissed' their concerns.

Some clinicians’ reactions ranged from ‘it’s all in your head’ to ‘these are women’s issues’ or ‘it’s that time of life’, the report states.

The treatment has been used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence in women for 20 years, but the review said that its 'long-term risk profile' is still unknown.

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review was so concerned by tales of suffering of women who had been fitted with mesh, that it recommended a pause in mesh procedures for stress urinary incontinence in 2018 – meaning procedures should only carried out under exceptional circumstances.

Women were not always told about the risks of mesh before their procedures and some women who have faced life-changing consequences only had ‘relatively minor’ stress urinary incontinence at the time.

The report states: “These themes are also reflected in the published literature on pelvic mesh.

“None of this happened consistently. There were no checks on implementation of the guidance nor enforcement and no consequences for not following it.

“Had it been implemented, it is likely that many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women would have been spared mesh complications.”

The review team have made a series of recommendations – including that pelvic floor education should be taught in schools, and antenatal classes.

An 'apology is due', and support is required for those who have suffered avoidable harm, the review added.

But it stopped short of recommending an outright ban.

Kath Sansom, founder of the campaign group Sling The Mesh, said: “The report is hard hitting and recognises the total failure in patient safety, regulation and oversight in the UK.

“It also makes it very clear that our medical establishment is deeply entrenched in institutional denial and misogyny.

“While we welcome all of the recommendations, there is no glory in knowing thousands of women have been maimed by mesh since the late 90s then ignored when they asked for help suffering debilitating, life altering and irreversible pain.”

In a statement, Thompsons Solicitors, which is representing 400 people whose lives have been affected by mesh, said: “Our clients have faced rejection and belittlement, while wracked with pain. An apology is long overdue.

"What those who have suffered for so long deserve is decisive action that leads to real change, starting today.”