Lightweight, Highly Permeable, Biocompatible, and Antiadhesive Composite Meshes for Intraperitoneal Repairs

Ventral hernia is a public health issue and millions of meshes are used to repair abdominal wall defects every year. Polypropylene-based composite meshes represent an important class of materials for intraperitoneal repair, but the meshes generally give rise to infection, seroma, migration, and adhesion, leading to severe consequence or even reoperation. Here, a facile and versatile one-way fabrication of lightweight, highly permeable, and biocompatible composite meshes with superior antiadhesion properties is proposed by modifying polypropylene meshes with well-defined polydopamine nanocoating. The resulting composite meshes are found to significantly enhance the biocompatibility and antiadhesion effect in rat model. The scalable production and excellent biomedical properties of composite meshes make them a promising candidate for future-generation ventral hernia repair materials.