• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

Log in
  • Search
    • Search All SAGES Content
    • Search SAGES Guidelines
    • Search the Video Library
    • Search the Image Library
    • Search the Abstracts Archive
www.sages.org

SAGES

Reimagining surgical care for a healthier world

  • Home
    • Search
    • SAGES Home
    • SAGES Foundation Home
  • About
    • Awards
    • Who Is SAGES?
    • Leadership
    • Our Mission
    • Advocacy
    • Committees
      • SAGES Board of Governors
      • Officers and Representatives of the Society
      • Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs
      • Committee Rosters
      • SAGES Past Presidents
  • Meetings
    • SAGES NBT Innovation Weekend
    • SAGES Annual Meeting
      • 2026 Scientific Session Call for Abstracts
      • 2026 Emerging Technology Call for Abstracts
    • CME Claim Form
    • SAGES Past, Present, Future, and Related Meeting Information
    • SAGES Related Meetings & Events Calendar
  • Join SAGES!
    • Membership Application
    • Membership Benefits
    • Membership Types
      • Requirements and Applications for Active Membership in SAGES
      • Requirements and Applications for Affiliate Membership in SAGES
      • Requirements and Applications for Associate Active Membership in SAGES
      • Requirements and Applications for Candidate Membership in SAGES
      • Requirements and Applications for International Membership in SAGES
      • Requirements for Medical Student Membership
    • Member Spotlight
    • Give the Gift of SAGES Membership
  • Patients
    • Join the SAGES Patient Partner Network (PPN)
    • Patient Information Brochures
    • Healthy Sooner – Patient Information for Minimally Invasive Surgery
    • Choosing Wisely – An Initiative of the ABIM Foundation
    • All in the Recovery: Colorectal Cancer Alliance
    • Find A SAGES Surgeon
  • Publications
    • Clinical / Practice / Training Guidelines, Statements, and Standards of Practice
    • Sustainability in Surgical Practice
    • SAGES Stories Podcast
    • Patient Information Brochures
    • Patient Information From SAGES
    • TAVAC – Technology and Value Assessments
    • Surgical Endoscopy and Other Journal Information
    • SAGES Manuals
    • MesSAGES – The SAGES Newsletter
    • COVID-19 Archive
    • Troubleshooting Guides
  • Education
    • Wellness Resources – You Are Not Alone
    • Avoid Opiates After Surgery
    • SAGES Subscription Catalog
    • SAGES TV: Home of SAGES Surgical Videos
    • The SAGES Safe Cholecystectomy Program
    • Masters Program
    • Resident and Fellow Opportunities
      • MIS Fellows Course
      • SAGES Robotics Residents and Fellows Courses
      • SAGES Free Resident Webinar Series
      • Fluorescence-Guided Surgery Course for Fellows
      • Fellows’ Career Development Course
    • SAGES S.M.A.R.T. Enhanced Recovery Program
    • SAGES @ Cine-Med Products
      • SAGES Top 21 Minimally Invasive Procedures Every Practicing Surgeon Should Know
      • SAGES Pearls Step-by-Step
      • SAGES Flexible Endoscopy 101
    • SAGES OR SAFETY Video Activity
  • Opportunities
    • Fellowship Recognition Opportunities
    • SAGES Advanced Flexible Endoscopy Area of Concentrated Training (ACT) SEAL
    • Multi-Society Foregut Fellowship Certification
    • Research Opportunities
    • FLS
    • FES
    • FUSE
    • Jobs Board
    • SAGES Go Global: Global Affairs and Humanitarian Efforts
  • OWLS/FLS
You are here: Home / Abstracts / Reinforcement of Midline Laparotomies with Bioabsorbable Mesh: Implications on Wound Healing and Infection

Reinforcement of Midline Laparotomies with Bioabsorbable Mesh: Implications on Wound Healing and Infection

Andrew Victory, Medical, Student, Joe Drosdeck, MD, Brendan Marr, MD, Mark Wendling, MD, Jonathan Rock, MD, Alan Litsky, MD, ScD, Mario Salazar, MD, Aliyah Kanji, MD, W.Scott Melvin, MD

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Introduction
Treatment of incisional hernias incurs significant financial and human costs. Prosthetic mesh implants reduce hernia rates, but recurrence and infection remain unacceptably high. Synthetic mesh provides the most effective treatment, but risk of infection significantly limits its prophylactic use in most gastrointestinal surgery. Prophylactic biologic reinforcement is a potential solution. Biologic mesh has shown promise in preventing incisional hernias in specific settings. This study investigates the ability of bioabsorbable polygycolic acid/trimethylene carbonate fibrous (Bio-A) mesh to facilitate wound healing in a porcine model.

Methods and Procedures
Twenty-two female domestic swine received supra- and infraumbilical vertical midline incisions under general anesthesia. A small bowel resection with primary anastomosis was performed via each infraumbilical incision. Each subject was randomized to receive a 12×4 cm piece of Bio-A mesh in the supraumbilical (n = 11) or infraumbilical (n = 11) subfascial location. The mesh was fixed with absorbable sutures and the overlying fascia closed primarily with running O-loop Maxon. The subcutaneous layer and skin were closed primarily in layers in running fashion. Animals were then returned to housing and fed normally.

Subjects were euthanized at 12 weeks and a strip of abdominal wall surrounding each incision was harvested. Specimens were cleaned of skin and subcutaneous fat, trimmed, and notched above and below the incision before testing; final dimensions were 14×3 cm. All specimens were placed in clamps and stretched in-line with a MTS Bionix 858 axial-torsional servo hydraulic materials test system until breaking strength. Peak load was defined as the maximum force achieved before wound failure. Histological evaluation of each specimen was performed to evaluate wound healing properties between groups.

Results
All wounds were well healed and showed no evidence of superficial or deep infection. Average maximum loads were similar between wounds reinforced with Bio-A mesh (311.34 N, SD 84.94) and those in the control group (309.14 N, SD 100.91). Of the 32 wounds that underwent mechanical testing, infraumbilical wounds had lower strengths than supraumbilical wounds. Adhesions were not noted when the prosthesis was placed above the peritoneum. Two animals died prematurely: one from anastomotic breakdown at the site of the small bowel anastomosis, one from small bowel obstruction as a result of mesh-related adhesions.

Conclusions
Placement of Bio-A absorbable mesh in vertical midline abdominal incisions yields equivalent maximum wound tensile strength compared to primary fascial closure in a porcine model and does not increase wound infections. Intraperitoneal placement was associated with a higher adhesion score.


Session: Poster Presentation

Program Number: P276

125

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky

Related


sages_adbutler_leaderboard

Hours & Info

11300 West Olympic Blvd, Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90064

1-310-437-0544

[email protected]

Monday – Friday
8am to 5pm Pacific Time

Find Us Around the Web!

  • Bluesky
  • X
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 · SAGES · All Rights Reserved

Important Links

Healthy Sooner: Patient Information

SAGES Guidelines, Statements, & Standards of Practice

SAGES Manuals