INTRODUCTION: The use of meshes to surgical repair of abdominal wall defects has contributed increasingly to reduce the number of incisional hernias. This use, however, in the intraperitoneal position leads to adhesion formation and a great number of complications, as bowel obstruction. METHODS: Twenty seven articles were selected from PubMed and Medline publications with important information about the meshes properties (material, pore size, spacial surface area, molecular weight) and its alocation in intraperitoneal position, preventing adhesion formation and incisional hernia. CONCLUSION: Nowadays, the composite meshes are the most specified to use in the intraperitoneal position. They are composed in one side with a material (macroporous and reticular) that must be in contact with the muscle and has the purpose to maintain the abdominal wall resistence. In the other side, another kind of material (microporous and laminar) that must be in contact with the intra-abdominal organs, however without inducing adhesion formation.
Surgical mesh; Hernia; Abdominal wall; Tissue adhesions
