ABSTRACT
Synthetic meshes, which were originally designed to repair abdominal hernias, have been used since the 1950s to repair pelvic organ prolapse (POP) via sacrocolpopexy and since the 1990s for repair of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) [1,2]. In both applications, the overarching goal of biomaterial use has been to improve the perceived low success rates of native tissue repairs and minimize morbidity associated with harvesting a patient's own tissue. The type of mesh used for urogynecological procedures directly mirrors products introduced into the market for hernia repair, though initially surgeons simply cut the mesh into the desired shape for sacrocolpopexy or suburethral slings. Over time, hernia meshes were designed to have lighter weight with wider pores based on clinical outcomes and the work of klinge, with the urogynecology community quickly adopting the same materials. For example, ethicon's prolene soft hernia mesh was remarketed for sacrocolpopexy as the prototype prolapse mesh gynemesh PS (Figure 90.1).
