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Review
. 2017 Aug 22;7(3):47.
doi: 10.3390/membranes7030047.

Past, Present and Future of Surgical Meshes: A Review

Karen Baylón  1 , Perla Rodríguez-Camarillo  2 , Alex Elías-Zúñiga  3 , Jose Antonio Díaz-Elizondo  4 , Robert Gilkerson  5 , Karen Lozano  6
Affiliations
Review

Past, Present and Future of Surgical Meshes: A Review

Karen Baylón et al. Membranes (Basel). .

Abstract

Surgical meshes, in particular those used to repair hernias, have been in use since 1891. Since then, research in the area has expanded, given the vast number of post-surgery complications such as infection, fibrosis, adhesions, mesh rejection, and hernia recurrence. Researchers have focused on the analysis and implementation of a wide range of materials: meshes with different fiber size and porosity, a variety of manufacturing methods, and certainly a variety of surgical and implantation procedures. Currently, surface modification methods and development of nanofiber based systems are actively being explored as areas of opportunity to retain material strength and increase biocompatibility of available meshes. This review summarizes the history of surgical meshes and presents an overview of commercial surgical meshes, their properties, manufacturing methods, and observed biological response, as well as the requirements for an ideal surgical mesh and potential manufacturing methods.

Keywords: abdominal wall reconstruction; biocompatibility; hernia repair; surgical mesh.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic of: (a) woven; and (b) warp knitted structures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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