The shrinking rates of different meshes placed intraperitoneally: a long-term comparison of the TiMesh, VYPRO II, Sepramesh, and DynaMesh.

AIM: The aim of our study was to determine and compare the shrinking rates of different prosthetic materials used in ventral hernia repair and to establish a possible correlation with macroscopic adhesions, histopathologic inflammation, and fibrosis.

METHODS: Thirty-six Wistar albino rats were divided into 4 groups (T, V, S, and D). A midline laparotomy was performed under general anesthesia. A 30x40 mm-sized mesh was placed intraperitoneally and fixed with an interrupted 4/0 polypropylene suture to the anterior abdominal wall. In group T, TiMesh; group V, Vypro II; group S, Sepramesh; and group D, DynaMesh-IPOM were used. All rats were killed at the 90th day postoperatively and the mesh area and the shrinking rate were calculated. Each group was evaluated in correlation with shrinking, adhesion, histopathologic inflammation, and fibrosis, and compared with each other.

RESULTS: The mean area was 1013.33 mm2 in the T group, 930.44 mm2 in the V group, 1024.44 mm2 in the S group, and 1073.8 mm2 in the D group. The shrinking areas were found as 186.67 mm2, 269.55 mm2, 177.55 mm2, and 126.2 mm2, respectively. The shrinking rates were statistically significant in each group. The lowest shrinking rate was found in group D and highest in group V, but the results were statistically insignificant. In terms of macroscopic adhesion, histopathologic inflammation, and fibrosis no statistically significant differences were found among all the groups in comparison with each other.

CONCLUSIONS: Although the shrinking rate of DynaMesh is lowest among all the groups, the results are statistically insignificant. The results of our experimental study revealed no superiority in the means of mesh shrinkage among TiMesh, Vypro II, Sepramesh, and DynaMesh in the rats.