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Strengthening preclinical testing to increase safety in surgical mesh

Nature Reviews Urology (2024)Cite this article

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Inflammatory and fibrotic responses to polypropylene mesh led to the withdrawal of this practice for treatment of stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women in some countries. Improved material testing has been urged. We report poor responses of polypropylene mesh to repeated mechanical distension and macrophage interrogation. These results from preclinical in vitro testing show the potential of this approach for testing and improving materials before their introduction into the clinic.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (N.T.H.F. grant: EP/T517835/1; N.T.H.F. and C.R. grant: EP/V012126/1) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) through the Confidence in Concept scheme (N.T.H.F., C.R. and S.M.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Nicholas T. H. Farr, Victoria L. Workman, Sheila MacNeil & Cornelia Rodenburg

  2. Insigneo Institute for in silico Medicine, University of Sheffield, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK

    Nicholas T. H. Farr, Victoria L. Workman & Cornelia Rodenburg

  3. Department of Urology, Urology Clinic, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK

    Christopher R. Chapple

Authors
  1. Nicholas T. H. Farr
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  2. Victoria L. Workman
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  3. Christopher R. Chapple
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  4. Sheila MacNeil
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  5. Cornelia Rodenburg
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Correspondence to Nicholas T. H. Farr.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Farr, N.T.H., Workman, V.L., Chapple, C.R. et al. Strengthening preclinical testing to increase safety in surgical mesh. Nat Rev Urol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-024-00889-5

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