Natural Biological Scaffold: A Novel Material For Abdominal Wall Reconstruction

Background:Abdominal wall reconstruction requires tension-free mesh repair. Biological materials promote repair andregeneration, rather than scar tissue formation. A novel typeⅠ/Ⅲacellular collagen scaffold derived from porcine peritoneum has been developed for abdominal wall reconstruction.Materials and Methods:Full thickness abdominal wall defects were created in mice and repaired with polypropylene (control, groupⅠ) or the collagen membrane (groupⅡ). At 1 week and 4 weeks post implantation, animals were sacrificed and semi-quantitatively assessed for adhesions, fibrosis, inflammation and vascular proliferation.Results:The collagen membrane induced no intestinal adhesions, only liver adhesions were present. At 1 week the scores for extent and type of adhesions were significantly lower (P=0.020 and P=0.008). At 4 weeks the extent was significantly lower (P=0.024). At 1 week the collagen membrane showed no fibrosis (P=0.002), no vascular proliferation (P=0.002) and minimal inflammation. At 4 weeks, the collagen membrane showed significantly less fibrosis(P=0.002) and mild vascular proliferation. Tenacity, fibrosis and vascular proliferation significantly increased over time(P=0.035, P＜0.001 and P＜0.001, respectively).Conclusion:The smooth, visceral surface of the collagen membrane successfully prevents intestinal adhesion formation and the rough parietal surface integrated with host tissue. The inflammatory response of the collagen membrane was minimal. Further studies are required to quantitatively assess the tissue response and to determine whether collagen deposition occurs.