This version is not peer-reviewed.
Submitted:
27 December 2024
Posted:
30 December 2024
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Despite significant advancements, prosthetic hernia repair continues to face unacceptably high complication rates, including postoperative discomfort and chronic pain. These issues often stem from poor biological responses, such as the formation of stiff scar tissue and mesh shrinkage, commonly associated with traditional static meshes and plugs. Recent studies have challenged the conventional approach of reinforcing the groin through fibrotic incorporation of meshes, particularly in light of new evidence on the degenerative origins of many types of abdominal hernias such as groin hernias. In response, the Stenting & Shielding (S&S) Hernia System, a newly designed 3D dynamic device, has been developed for dissection free laparoscopic placement to permanently obliterate hernia defects. Unlike conventional meshes, this device induces a probiotic biological response, promoting viable tissue growth rather than fibrotic plaque formation. In a porcine experimental model, the S&S device demonstrated the development of a great amount of muscle fibers, alongside nervous and vascular structures, within well-perfused connective tissue. Histological analysis of biopsy specimen excised from the experimental animals revealed progressive muscle fiber maturation from early myocyte development in the short term to fully developed muscle bundles in the long term. The enhanced biological response observed with the S&S device suggests a promising shift in hernia repair, potentially reversing the degenerative processes of hernia formation and promoting tissue regeneration. The S&S Hernia System described here can be classified not merely as a conventional hernia implant, but as part of a new category of hernia devices: the dynamic regenerative scaffold.
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