Effect of mesh construction on the physicomechanical properties of bicomponent knit mesh using yarns derived from degradable copolyesters

Abstract

The use of mesh to repair abdominal wall defects has significantly increased over the past two decades owing to a perceived reduction in recurrence rates compared to primary repairs. However, the use of a mesh in vivo has introduced undesirable patient complications. As a result, there exists an unmet need for a mesh design which exhibits improved biocompatibility. In the present study, the in vitro conditioned modulation of biocompatibility-relevant physical and mechanical mesh properties using (1) absorbable yarns with different degradation profiles and (2) different mesh constructions employing the warp and weft knitting technologies was investigated. A novel warp-knit, bicomponent mesh (WK1) was developed that modulates physicomechanical properties and that (1) possesses short-term structural stiffness, (2) provides a gradual transition phase, and (3) possesses long-term compliance with force-extension properties similar to the abdominal wall. The use of two different degradable copolyester yarns facilitated the modulation of mesh physicomechanical properties, whereas the knit construction determined the resultant porosity, area weight, thickness, strength, and extension of the mesh. The lack of variation in the knit pattern for the weft knit (DM1) mesh made it one-dimensional, producing strength loss with time but showing no change in extensibility following the substantial degradation of the fast-degrading yarn.