Introduction and Objectives
Synthetic grafts have clearly demonstrated superior durability and long term success, over biomaterials, for pelvic floor repair. Although grafts can be made from the same materials, the final weave of the product may play a role in the ultimate outcomes or complications.
Material and Methods
Full-thickness abdominal wall defect, with respect to the peritoneum, was primary repaired in 36 male Wister rats, using the overlay technique. Monofilament, multifilament and collagen coated polypropylene grafts were used for repair. Graft shrinkage, thickness and tensile strength of the explants were analyzed after three and six weeks.
Results
Monofilament grafts showed 12–18% shrinkage respectively over the 9–11% for the multifilament and 10–14% for the collagen coated for the investigated period. Thickness of monofilament explants increased gradually, with a maximum of 23% after six weeks. Multifilament and collagen explants did swell more rapidly to 80% and 60% in the third week, decreasing thereafter to 19% above the pre implantation values after six weeks. The tensile strength showed a gradual increase over the course of experiment in all groups. Monofilament was the strongest followed by collagen coated and multifilament. In half of the cases the site of disruption was the suture itself but after six weeks all disruptions occurred in the native tissue.
Conclusions
Overall graft shrinkage was 9–18% with monofilament graft as the most prominent. Thickness of the grafts increased 9–23% respectively for the investigated period. The strongest tensile strength was recorded in the monofilament group.
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Copyright
© 2009 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
