Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The biological material is expected to overcome complications of the synthetic mesh for reconstructive pelvic surgery. Heterogeneous biological materials have been widely used in the field of female pelvic floor reconstruction recently due to the wide source.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize basic and clinical research progress of biological mesh in the field of female pelvic floor reconstruction in recent years. Clinical efficacy and complications of different biological materials were also reviewed.
METHODS: A comprehensive retrieval of CNKI and Pubmed search from January 2000 to August 2010 was undertaken using the key words of “xenograft, surgical mesh, biomaterial, prolapse, stress urinary incontinence” in English and “biomaterial; pelvic reconstruction; prolapse; stress urinary incontinence” in Chinese.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 177 literatures were collected, and 35 articles were included. The histological reaction of biological mesh was mainly determined by the pore size and the chemical cross-linking structure. Clinical efficacy and complications of different biological materials showed significant differences due to difference in properties, surgical approaches, grouping criteria and follow-up standards. Patients’ age and history of previous pelvic surgeries were the two main factors that affected success rate of reconstruction surgery. Currently, large-sample clinical evidence are not available to support that biological mesh is better than synthetic mesh in pelvic floor reconstruction.