Innovation of a new silicone prosthesis for inguinal hernioplasty: new method for silicone prosthesis production, a preliminary study.

PURPOSE The main strategy in inguinal hernia repair is mesh hernioplasty (specially prolene mesh). Pain in anterior femoral, inguinal and scrotal areas, mainly due to sensory nerve injury in the very regions and vas deferen injury are the main complications reported following repairing inguinal hernia. In this study we decided to use semiliquid silicone in order to form it in an in-vivo prosthesis production method to perform hernioplasty. METHODS In this technique, silicone was produced through Room Temperature Vulcanization (RTV) technique, which is feasible in the room temperature. The produced semiliquid polymer was shaped in the inguinal canal in six cadavers. RESULT While the prostheses adequately covered all the anatomic area of the canal with an acceptable thickness in all of the cases, a satisfactory shape was developed in four cases. While 15 - 20 cc of silicone was needed to cover all anatomic areas properly, the hardness equal to 15 was achieved after curing process. CONCLUSION New silicone prosthesis forms satisfyingly in the inguinal canal and can protect it by encapsulation mechanism. It is soft with no risk of damage to the nerves or vas. It is inert and has no toxicity to the adjacent tissue. This technique of silicone remodeling can also be used in other fields of surgery such as plastic or vascular surgery.