Assessment of Mechanical and Antibiotic Elution Properties of Novel Hollow Tube Surgical Mesh
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Date
2016-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Ventral hernias are a major health burden with nearly 350,000 occurrences each year in the United States. A common method of treatment uses a surgical mesh to repair hernias. However, up to 8% of these surgical meshes become infected, and many of them are chronic, antibiotic-resistant infections thought to be caused by biofilms. Preventing the formation of biofilms would alleviate the burden of repeat surgeries due to the infections. This research aims to assess the mechanical and antibiotic elution properties of a novel hollow tube surgical mesh. Relevant properties such as tensile strength, elastic modulus, strain at break, and anisotropy are compared for the hydrated hollow tube mesh and a hydrated mesh similar to the ones that are typically used in hernia repair. The hollow tube mesh is charged with rifampicin in 10% DMSO and evaluated by assay against Staphylococcus aureus. To eliminate residual rifampicin clinging to the exterior of the mesh as the cause for the zone of inhibition, the area of the mesh that came into contact with the rifampicin is removed. Long pieces of rifampicin-charged mesh are tested both sealed and unsealed to ensure that the zones of inhibition are due to elution of the rifampicin through the walls and not leakage out of the ends. The novel hollow tube mesh was shown to be significantly stronger (p<.002) and significantly stiffer (p<10-6) than the other mesh, but the strain at breaking was not significantly different. The antibiotic elution capabilities of the novel hollow tube mesh were shown not to be due to the solution the rifampicin was in, the loading techniques, the assay procedure, or leakage out of the end of the mesh. The use of a mesh in ventral hernia repair that elutes antibiotics to prevent the formation of biofilms is plausible.
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Keywords
Biofilm, Ventral Hernia, Surgical Mesh, Infection