In Q & A format, I will discuss the “Integrated Hernioplasty” repair… or is it the “Integrative Hernioplasty” repair. Both names are used all over the Joshua Taipei Hernia Center website. Apparently, Joshua Taipei Hernia Center doesn’t even know the name of their own repair, which they have a fake trademark on. In the Q & A below, you will continue to see just how honest Joshua Taipei Hernia Center really is. All of the information in the questions is pulled from the Joshua Taipei Hernia Center website.

Q: Joshua Taipei Hernia Center claims on its homepage that its Integrated Hernioplasty is… “a unique alternative to conventional mesh implantation, [which] offers 3-dimensional natural tissue reconstruction for a functional structure. This groundbreaking [Integrative Hernioplasty] solution shatters the boundaries of traditional hernia surgeries.” Is this true?

A: While it does not shatter the boundaries of hernia repair, it does shatter the boundaries of truth. What you see in the video on the Joshua Taipei Hernia Center homepage in the screenshot above, which Joshua Taipei Hernia Center describes as a “3-dimensional” reconstruction and a “groundbreaking solution”, is what the rest of the world calls the Shouldice Repair. The Shouldice Repair was, in fact, a groundbreaking solution when it was created by Dr. Edward Earle Shouldice, the inventor of the Shouldice Repair in 1945.

Joshua Taipei Hernia Center admitted so in its own document sent to me as you can see below. The key surgical part of the operation are steps 9 and 10. It’s all part of Shouldice repair and he included McVay, which I will discuss later contributed to my disastrous surgical outcome. Halstead is simply a method of suturing. The Joshua Taipei Hernia Center was reluctant to send this document to me and required multiple requests before I finally got it. At the time, I was confused about why this was. Now, I am not.

About the fake trademark for the Integrated Hernioplasty, why try to trademark a name you created for a procedure that you ripped off from someone else? Who in their right mind would want to rip off the name of a procedure that was ripped off from someone else? 

The following Q & A will come from this graphic on the Joshua Taipei Hernia Center website.

Q: 1) Does Joshua Taipei Hernia Center use local anesthesia and IV sedation? 2) Joshua Taipei Hernia Center claims traditional hernia repair surgery only use spinal anesthesia or general anesthesia. Is this true?

A: 1) Yes, Joshua Taipei Hernia Center does open hernia repair and uses local anesthesia and IV sedation. But should it? Because unlike traditional open repair, their surgery can take place far from their fingertips, thus losing precision in doing the repair and making them more likely to cause an accident.

2) No, open hernia repair commonly involves local anesthesia and IV sedation.

Robotic and laparoscopic mesh hernia repairs generally require general anesthesia due to the difficult nature of the surgery and the desire for high precision in the repair. Surgeons using these methods want to ensure the patient doesn’t move.

Spinal anesthesia is generally only used on patients who get open hernia repairs for which other anesthesia is deemed too risky because of health problems or due other specific conditions.

 

Q: 1) Is the Integrated Hernioplasty free of mesh? 2) Do all other repairs use mesh?

A: 1) Yes, it is. 100% of Joshua Taipei Hernia Center inguinal hernia repairs involve no mesh. However, this fact should scare you as I explain on the webpage, “Why to Avoid Surgery with Joshua.”

2) No, Joshua Taipei Hernia Center did not invent non-mesh repair. In fact, the first mesh repair was done in 1958, but did not become common until the 1990’s. You can still get non-mesh repairs today, but they are becoming less common because mesh repairs result in better outcomes, in general, than non-mesh repairs. Many top hospitals no longer do non-mesh repairs for this very reason. Over ten years ago, mesh repairs commonly caused pain due to the type of mesh used. New and improved mesh don’t have the same complications as old mesh, and, consequently, mesh repair is now preferred to non-mesh repair.

 

Q: 1) Is the Integrated Hernioplasty a day surgery? 2) Do other inguinal hernia repairs require 2 – 3 days of hospitalization?

A: 1) Yes, it can be. Joshua Taipei Hernia Center gives you the option of staying longer if you don’t feel well enough to go home the same day.

2) No, most uncomplicated inguinal hernia repairs, especially those performed using minimally invasive techniques like laparoscopic or robotic surgery, are done on an outpatient basis. Patients are typically able to go home a few hours after the procedure once they have recovered from anesthesia and are stable. Open inguinal hernia repairs can also be done as outpatient procedures in many cases.

Complicated hernia repairs, such as those involving large or recurrent hernias, may necessitate an overnight stay.

 

Q: 1) Is the Integrated Hernioplasty a 3-dimensional structure that results in no exercise limitations from tension? 2) Are other hernia repairs a 2-dimensional structure that cause tension during exercise?

A: 1) Human beings are 3-dimensional and so are the repairs of their body parts. If by 3-dimensional, Joshua Taipei Hernia Center means using the layering technique, which they ripped off from Shouldice and claim is their own, then yes. The Shouldice repair, if done properly, results in less tension than Bassini, which is what I assume he is referring to as the 2-dimensional repair.

2) Last I checked, human beings and all parts of the human anatomy are 3-dimensional. Thus, all surgery is 3-dimensional and thus 2-dimensional hernia repairs are not possible.

 

Q: 1) Is the Integrated Hernioplasty painless or result in a low degree of pain? 2) Do other surgical techniques result in low to moderate pain and abdominal wall distension?

A: 1) Based on my own experience, this is among the biggest crocks of shit I have heard in my life. Refer to the homepage for my symptoms. Also, I have a massive belly for about 3 – 4 weeks after surgery. I asked Alpha Lin about it and he said my stomach muscles were in knots and it was normal. Your website, Alpha Lin, says you do not have this problem with your surgeries and that other surgeons do. What a liar. The Integrated Hernioplasty results in abdominal distension and much, much more. However, to lower your post-operative pain, The Joshua Taipei Hernia Center gives patients pain injections while they are sedated in an attempt to lower post-operative pain. Because of this injection, they likely make the post-operative painless claim.

2) Laparoscopic and Robotic mesh repairs are the least painful and have the fastest recovery times. Open repairs have a longer recovery period due to the larger incisions. Very few inguinal hernia repairs result in abdominal distension like The Joshua Taipei Hernia Center’s Integrated Hernioplasty does.

 

Q: 1) Is the Integrated Hernioplasty incision 3 – 4 cm for males and 1.5 – 2 cm for females? 2) Are mesh repairs 5 – 10 cm and laparoscopic repairs 3 incisions that are 1 – 2 cm?

A: 1) Yes, this is true for males. I don’t know for females. However, Joshua Taipei Hernia Center does a complicated surgery with a small incision. There is huge risk to this as I discuss on the webpage, “Why To Avoid Surgery Here.”

2) Generally correct but exaggerated a bit. Open repairs, both mesh and non-mesh, are typically 5 – 10 cm. Laparoscopic and robotic mesh repairs include 3 incisions. One incision is 1 cm. The other two incisions are about 0.5 cm.

 

Q: 1) Does the Integrated Hernioplasty repair have a 0.2% recurrence rate? 2) Does open non-mesh repair have a 5 – 10% recurrence rate, open mesh repair a 2 – 3% recurrence rate, and laparoscopic and robotic mesh repair a 3 – 7% recurrence rate?

A: 1) I don’t know. Mine hasn’t but movement is usually required for recurrence. Because I have so much pain and am bedridden, I am unlikely to have a recurrence. If Joshua Taipei Hernia Center is able to have such a low recurrence rate, that would make them the most effective inguinal hernia repair surgeons in the world. I would bet the house that 0.2% is nonsense.

2) The Joshua Taipei Hernia Center numbers are generally accurate. Recurrence rates for open non-mesh repair with the Bassini and McVay techniques are about 5 – 10%. Shouldice is 1 – 4%. Open mesh repairs have a 1 – 5% recurrence rate. Laparoscopic or robotic mesh repairs have a 1 – 3% recurrence rate.

 

Q: 1) Does Joshua Taipei Hernia Center have only experts as they claim in many places on their website? 2) Are other surgeons who do hernia repairs not experts?

A: 1) Joshua Taipei Hernia Center cannot have experts, because it consists of only 1 surgeon. Based on my disastrous hernia repair and how that 1 surgeon engages in illegal activity, makes gross misrepresentations, and makes fraudulent claims about his Integrative Hernioplasty, I hesitate to believe he is an expert. From my knowledge and interactions with him, I would say he is a disingenuous, unscrupulous egomaniac with delusions of grandeur. For more details on this claim, please read my webpage “Joshua’s Hernia Doctor(s).”

2) This question does not merit a response.

 

Let’s now look at the Comparison chart Joshua Taipei Hernia Center has posted on their website.

Allow me to indulge myself in a bout of laughter at the expense of Joshua Taipei Hernia Center by copying and pasting text from the comparison chart on the Joshua Taipei Hernia Center website.

Integrative Hernioplasty – Abdominal wall structure of the groin is reconstructed with autologous tissue.
The principle resembles the three-dimensional structure of the building.

Shouldice Repair – Autologous tissue is used in repairing and reconstructing the abdominal wall of the groin.
The principle resembles a three-dimensional structure that closes several gates to cover a gap.

Now, you are thinking to yourself, the Integrative Hernioplasty and Shouldice Repair look the same but with the words just scrambled and adjusted a bit. That is because they are the same.

It is very clear that Joshua Taipei Hernia Center is intending to deceive others by unjustifiably claiming accomplishments or qualities. THIS IS THE OXFORD DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF FRAUD.

Why is the incision smaller for the Integrative Hernioplasty than the Shouldice repair? Joshua Taipei Hernia Center uses a tool that was created by their 1 surgeon to do the repair. If all goes well, then you are good to go and you have a smaller incision. If your hernia repair has complications, you are screwed. If you have a qualified surgeon perform revision surgery, the complication rate of the revision surgery is really high because they will need to make a larger incision and they don’t know how Joshua Taipei Hernia Center altered your internal anatomy. Joshua Taipei Hernia Center will not provide you with detailed information about your surgery if you ask. Trust me, I have tried. This could be because they simply don’t remember or refuse to give that level of detail.