A review of recent developments of polypropylene surgical mesh for hernia repair

Abstract

Mesh has been used as a superior option to suture for reinforcing the weak abdominal wall during hernia surgery. As a result, there have been many attempts to make this fibre-based mesh more suitable for the host body. Researchers have explored different materials, designs and manufacturing techniques to improve the commercially available surgical meshes. In addition, surface modification has been widely used to modify and develop different biomechanical properties of mesh implants. This review provides comprehensive information on the properties, existing problems, and recent mesh developments in terms of modification techniques and their evaluations, including protein anti-adsorption, cellular attachment, biocompatibility, and antimicrobial resistance of polypropylene (PP) mesh. The outlook for future directions has also been discussed.

Keywords

• Hernia mesh
• Surface modification
• Biocompatibility
• Antimicrobial property
• Bowel adhesion