Abdominal wall hernia repair: A comparison of sepramesh and parietex composite mesh in a rabbit hernia model

BACKGROUND: This study compared Parietex composite mesh (PCM) with Sepramesh (SM) in terms of strength of tissue incorporation, adhesion formation, and mesh shrinkage, using an animal model. STUDY DESIGN: A two-phase, prospective, randomized study using 44 New Zealand white rabbits. Each animal underwent creation of a standardized ventral hernia defect, followed by repair using either SM or PCM. Half of each group was sacrificed and examined at 1 month, and the remainder at 5 months. Outcomes measurements were strength of incorporation (SOI), type and area of adhesions (AA), and mesh shrinkage. RESULTS: SOI for PCM was much greater than for SM, both at 1 month (60.8 N versus 42.6 N) and 5 months (70.9 N versus 31.5 N). The incidence of bowel adhesions was lower with PCM than SM, both at 1 month (1 versus 6) and at 5 months (0 versus 4). At 5 months, PCM demonstrated lower AA, both as a percentage of the mesh (5.6% versus 12.8%) and in terms of absolute area involved (321 mm 2 versus 840 mm 2). PCM underwent considerably more shrinkage than SM, at both 1 month (38.2% versus 18.1%) and 5 months (17.4% versus 6.1%). CONCLUSIONS: PCM demonstrated a substantially stronger SOL which improved over time, and SOI of SM decreased. PCM was also superior in terms of adhesion prevention, but underwent considerably more shrinkage in this experimental model.