Prosthesis and method for lowering abdominal pressure

Abstract

A two-sheet fascial expander prosthesis for temporary use and method of using it to treat abdominal hypertension and associated organ system function impairment, in which each flat sheet is attached to the fascia only at opposite sides of an incision. One side of each sheet is armed with mating fastening elements that bond when united to bring about high tensile shear strength and low tensile peeling-off resistance permitting easy separation for diagnostic and therapeutic abdominal entry. The invention is useful because it expands the fascia and adds compliance to the envelope of the abdominal cavity by bridging the gap between free borders of the incised fascia containing intra-abdominal organs without strangulating their blood supply and retaining some tension on the fascia to prevent retraction and bringing the edges closer together as healing progresses, and permitting final removal of the patch and fascia-to-fascia closure. The method of producing and testing biocompatibility of the two-sheet fascia prosthesis also is disclosed.

1 . I claim the method of making a biocompatible fascia expander prosthesis of plastic material for temporary use to decompress abdominal hypertension, to prevent evisceration and fascial retraction, to permit removal of said prosthetic patch, and allow for final fascia-to-fascia closure at the end of a series of abdominal entries using traditional suture techniques, comprising:
 Forming a first trimmable loop sheet prosthetic member of plastic material having a smooth bottom side, and a top side consisting of multiple spaced filamentous anchors rooted on said loop sheet and providing a mating surface for the second sheet.   Forming a second mating trimmable prosthetic member of plastic material having a smooth top, and a bottom with multiple spaced hook-like fastening elements arising and extending perpendicularly from said sheet. Said male hook sheet mates with the mating surface of said first female loop sheet.   Uniting both sheets by pressing the male hook sheet into the female loop sheet to form a releasable and re-uniteable bond, said bond being strong enough to prevent the two sheets from separating via tangential pull but keeping separation easy by lifting the hook sheet off the loop sheet but not by vertical pull.   
     
     
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