Page 306 - Prevention and Treatment of Incisional Hernia- New Techniques and Materials

Chapter 15
Materials and methods
Animals
Sixty-four male rats of the outbred Wistar strain weighing 288-422 grams were obtained from a licensed breeder (Harlan, the Netherlands) and bred under speci c pathogen-free conditions. The animals were accustomed to laboratory conditions one week before the start of the experiment. They were kept under standard laboratory conditions in individually ventilated cages and fed with standard rat chow and water ad libitum throughout the experiment. Experimental protocols were approved by the Ethical Committee on Animal Experimentation of the Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Implanted meshes
Animals were divided into 8 groups and 4 di erent commercially available biological meshes were implanted. Prostheses were prepared according to the manufacturer’s instructions before implantation.
1. Non-crosslinked porcine dermis Strattice (Lifecell, Branchburg, NJ)
2. Non-crosslinked porcine submucosa Surgisis (Cook, Bloomington, IN)
3. Crosslinked porcine dermis Permacol (Covidien, Norwalk, CT)
4. Crosslinked porcine dermis CollamendFM
(C.R. Bard/Davol, Inc, Warwick, RI).
Mesh model
Rats were anaesthetized with iso urane/O2 inhalation (Pharmachemie, Haarlem, the Netherlands) and received buprenor n analgesia 0.05 mg/kg subcutaneously (Reckitt Benckiser healthcare limited, Kingston upon tames, United Kingdom). Procedures were performed under aseptic conditions. The abdomen was shaved and the skin disinfected with 70% alcohol, after which the abdominal cavity was opened through a 3 cm midline incision through the skin and linea alba. A sterile mesh, measuring 2.5x3 cm, was implanted intraperitoneally with three transmuscular non-absorbable sutures (Ethilon, 5-0) on both sides of the incision in all mesh groups. Thereafter the abdominal wall and skin were separately closed with a running absorbable suture (Sa l , 5-0).
304