A soft elastomer alternative to polypropylene for pelvic organ prolapse repair: a preliminary study

Introduction and hypothesis We compared the impact of a mesh manufactured from the soft elastomer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to that of a widely used lightweight polypropylene (PP) mesh. To achieve a similar overall device stiffness between meshes, the PDMS mesh was made with more material and therefore was heavier and less porous. We hypothesized that the soft polymer PDMS mesh, despite having more material, would have a similar impact on the vagina as the PP mesh. Methods PDMS and PP meshes were implanted onto the vaginas of 20 rabbits via colpopexy. Ten rabbits served as sham. At 12 weeks, mesh-vagina complexes were explanted and assessed for contractile function, histomorphology, total collagen, and glycosaminoglycan content. Outcome measures were compared using one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis testing with appropriate post-hoc testing. Results Relative to sham, vaginal contractility was reduced following the implantation of PP ( p = 0.035) but not the softer PDMS ( p = 0.495). PP had an overall greater negative impact on total collagen and glycosaminoglycan content, decreasing by 53% ( p