To review the current clinical management of stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse following the adverse complications seen in the use of polypropylene mesh to treat both.
Materials developed for use in abdominal hernia repair have not proven risk-free when used to support pelvic organs particularly when inserted via the vagina. Following unacceptably high levels of severe complications when high-density polypropylene mesh is inserted via the vagina to treat pelvic organ prolapse, reported over the last decade, there is now an agreed consensus between surgeons about surgical approaches and materials, which should be recommended for use in stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
There is a need for new biomaterials and tissue engineered/regenerative medicine approaches to treat stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. New materials need to be evaluated critically in both preclinical and clinical studies before being adopted into routine clinical use.
Current opinion in urology. 2019 Mar 14 [Epub ahead of print]
Christopher Chapple, Sheila MacNeil
The Royal Hallamshire Hospital., The Kroto Research Institute, Materials Science and Engineering, North Campus, University of Sheffield, Broad Lane, Sheffield, UK.