Long-term complications of mesh repairs for abdominal-wall hernias

The use of prosthetic materials in repair of abdominal-wall hernias can lower the risk of hernia recurrence. Therefore, large numbers of meshes are used worldwide every year. All types of meshes on the market have the potential to cause certain complications, such as fistula formation, migration, infection, and rejection. These long-term, clinical complications, although rare, can be serious. For this reason, we aim to provide a systematic review on these adverse effects. A PubMed search covering the last 20 years was done to obtain articles reporting these long-term effects. After searches with selected keywords, and careful evaluation of the resulting articles, 64 articles reporting specific long-term complications were selected and set aside for analysis. Most of the articles were case reports and retrospective analyses (61/64). No evidence-based data exist regarding prevention of these late complications.