The Results of Polypropylene Mesh Usage for Nasal Septal Perforation Repair: An Experimental Study

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and biocompatibility of the polypropylene mesh in an animal model of nasal septal perforations on rabbits. Materials and Methods: After creating a 1X1 centimeter full thickness defect on 12 rabbits, the perforation was reconstructed with two different methods. For Group 1, we used mucosal flaps and polypropylene mesh as an interpositional graft. For Group 2, we only used mucosal flaps. After four weeks we removed the nasal septa of the rabbits and we analyzed the samples for acute rejection, infection, inflammatory response, fibrosis and granuloma formation histologically. Results: The samples of the Group 2 showed that all septal perforations remained the same. On the other hand, the septal structure remained intact on all samples of the Group 1. None of the samples of the Group 1 showed acute rejection or infection. Five samples of the Group 1 (62.5%) showed +1, one sample (12.5%) showed +2, and two samples (25%) showed +3 inflammatory response respectively. Three samples of Group 1 (37.5 %) did not show any fibrosis, four samples (50%) showed mild fibrosis and only one sample (12.5%) showed moderate fibrosis. In fact, total of seven samples (87.5%) showed mild fibrosis at most in the Group 1. We did not see any severe fibrosis at all. In the Group 1, we observed that six samples (%75) showed no granuloma formation as a foreign body reaction and two samples (25%) showed few giant cells. Also, severe vascular and epithelial proliferation was seen along the borders of propylene mesh. Conclusion: Propylene mesh showed good biocompatibility with the septal mucosa, and it can be used for the repair of septal perforation as an interpositional graft safely.