The Use of Synthetic Mesh in Contaminated and Infected Abdominal Wall Repairs. A Long-term Prospective Clinical Trial

Background: Abdominal wall reconstruction in patients presenting with enteric fistulas and mesh infection is challenging. There is a consensus that synthetic mesh must be avoided in infected operations. The alternatives to using synthetic mesh, such as component separation techniques and biologic mesh, present disappointing results with expressive wound infection and hernia recurrence rates. Methods: A prospective clinical trial designed to evaluate the short and the long-term outcomes of patients submitted to elective abdominal wall repair with synthetic mesh in the dirty-infected setting, and compared to a cohort of patients submitted to clean ventral hernia repairs.