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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
Multi-Scale Modification of Metallic Implants With Pore Gradients, Polyelectrolytes and Their Indirect Monitoring In vivo
Published on: July 1, 2013
Persistence of polypropylene mesh anisotropy after implantation: an experimental study
Y Ozog1, Ml Konstantinovic, E Werbrouck
1Center for Surgical Technologies, Faculty of Medicine The Pelvic Floor Unit, Universitair Ziekenhuis Gasthuisberg Leuven, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Objective:
To determine whether anisotropy persisted after incorporation into the host, using a standardised rabbit model for abdominal wall reconstruction.
Design:
Investigator-initiated prospective-controlled experimental study.
Setting:
Centre for Surgical Technologies, Medical Faculty KU-Leuven.
Sample:
Fifteen New Zealand White rabbits.
Methods:
In each rabbit, four full thickness primarily repaired abdominal wall defects were covered by a 4 × 5-cm Prolift+M implant (Johnson & Johnson, Norderstedt, Germany), either with the stiffest (n = 6 rabbits) or most elastic (n = 6) direction parallel to the body axis. Prolift+M contains 32 g/m² polypropylene, reinforced with polyglecaprone fibres. Harvesting was performed after 30, 60 and 120 days (n = 2 each time-point). The abdominal wall of three unoperated rabbits was used as negative control.
Main Outcome Measures:
Contraction, compliance and maximal strain and stress determined by uniaxial tensiometry.
Results:
Anisotropy properties persist at lower, more physiological displacements, but not at higher displacements. The stiffness of a mesh-augmented repair in the lower strain range remains above that of native tissue. Eventual mesh contraction was limited to 4.3%.
Conclusions:
Anisotropic properties of Prolift+M persist in vivo and shrinkage is minimal. Compliance of mesh-augmented repair remains less than that of native tissue. The functional consequences of this remain to be studied.
