Biological and biomechanical assessment of a long-term bioresorbable silk-derived surgical mesh in an abdominal body wall defect model

Abstract

The patient's own repair of a body wall defect would be enhanced by a mechanically robust, physically tailorable, bioresorbable mesh scaffold that: (1) supports rapid host tissue ingrowth and development, while (2) reducing the complications associated with permanent synthetic and allogenic and xenogenic biological implants. A full-thickness 1-cm-diameter abdominal wall defect was made in 36 Sprague-Dawley rats, which were divided according to the implant material used; SeriFascia surgical mesh (test) and Mersilene mesh (control). Histopathology, histomorphometry, tissue ingrowth, and biomechanical analysis were performed 30 and 94 days post-implantation. The biological response to the test and control groups were equivalent, with significantly greater tissue ingrowth observed in the test group (P < 0.05). A significant 33 and 57% reduction of test device mass was observed at 30 and 94 days, respectively. The ultimate burst load for the test group defect decreased after 30 days to the initial strength of the control mesh and remained constant for the duration of the study. SeriFascia surgical mesh initially bioresorbed at an ideal rate that supported the transfer of load-bearing responsibility to developing host repair tissue. The results indicate the development of functional native tissue that could potentially minimize any long-term complication associated with presently available mesh implants.