The protrusion of adipose tissue or internal organs through the wall of an encompassing cavity is commonly called a hernia. This can happen in any part of the body, but most often occurs in the abdomen, where the peritoneum can weaken until it breaks. Symptoms vary widely, but often the complications include pain and organ dysfunction.
Most hernias are repaired with a rather simple surgical intervention, which almost always (regardless of the approach - open or laparoscopic) uses a mesh to achieve a tension-free repair. Complications arise through adhesion formation on the abdominal side of the implant or infections. To reduce or even avoid adhesion formation to the implant, a temporary adhesion barrier may shield the mesh. Medisse’s FlexiSurge® Adhesion Barrier acts as an effective adhesion barrier, and due to its flexibility it can be easily used in combination with a regular, non-resorbable hernia mesh.
In the next development step the overall feasibility of such a combination mesh will be investigated before moving to the clinical phase.
[2] Wikipedia. Inguinal Hernia. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. [Online] 24 04 2011. [Cited: 19 05 2011.] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inguinal_hernia.