Evaluation of polyamide surgical mesh as an abdominal ventral implant in rabbits.

Purpose: To evaluate abdominal ventral wound healing by using a specific biomaterial, a handmade polyamide surgical mesh.

Methods: A surgical incisional defect was made in ten rabbits to simulate a hernia in the ventral abdominal musculature. A polyamide surgical mesh was used in hernioplasty. They were monitored for surgical wound healing, and macroscopically and histologically evaluated at the end of the experiment. The polyamide surgical mesh did not cause foreign body reaction, pain, edema, or infection in the surgical site. The manure production was not affected by intestinal tissue adherences to the mesh, consistent with the ultrasonography result where adherences were not observed and organized scarring tissue formed in the incisional defect. The polyamide mesh was fixed over the abdominal wall, and its external and internal sides were surrounded by a vascularized connective tissue.

Results: None of the experimental animals developed adherences from internal organs to the polyamide mesh, except two rabbits where the omentum formed adherence to the internal scarring tissue without present herniation or compromise of the rabbit's health.

Conclusion: Polyamide surgical mesh for hernioplasty presents, in rabbits, excellent biocompatibility, with minimal body adverse reactions and low cost.