Repair Of Abdominal Wall Defects With Acellular Bovine Pericardium Matrix - A Multicenter Prospective Study

BackgroundThe association of prosthetic meshes in the abdominal wall repair, reducing the recurrence rates in an impactful way, has become an almost mandatory routine for the success of these surgeries. After decades using non-biological synthetic implants, from the 90s onwards biological membranes of animal or human origin were introduced - the so called acellular biological matrices - beginning a new era in abdominal wall defects correction. MethodsThirty patients underwent repair for different abdominal wall deformities, with acellular matrices of bovine pericardium, in a total of 40 anatomically individualized implants. The median follow-up was 22 months, with patients evaluated clinically and radiologically. In three cases, biopsies of the implanted areas were performed, allowing histological analysis of the material. ResultsThere was no recurrence of hernias in any of the cases, both clinically and radiologically. There was also no record of hematomas, infections or any phenomenon of a local or systemic reaction nature. Radiologically, it was not possible to visualize the matrices at the implantation site in any of the analysed postoperative periods. Biopsies showed important tissue neoformation replacing the implanted membranes, with important deposition of collagen, normal-looking cellularized tissue, and absence of foreign body reactions. ConclusionsThe analysed matrices showed similarity to other biological membranes described in the international literature. Representing an important update and conceptual evolution, biological matrices must be incorporated into the therapeutic arsenal in abdominal wall repairs.