To investigate the effects of hernia meshes made of different materials on postoperative pain and corresponding behavioral changes in rats.

Thirty-six rats were divided into four groups: control, abdominal wall defect, polypropylene mesh (PP mesh), and decellularized submucosa of porcine small intestine mesh (SIS mesh). The postoperative pain response was studied using the Von Frey Test, while the elevated plus maze test was used to investigate postoperative anxiety- and depression-like behavioral changes. Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in the surgical tissue of the abdominal wall defect, and Hematoxylin and Eosin staining (HE) was used to observe inflammatory responses.

On postoperative days 1 and 3, the 50% pain threshold (50%PT) of both the PP and SIS mesh groups significantly decreased (P<0.05), with the PP mesh group exhibiting anxiety-and depression-like behavioral changes (P=0.014), a significant increase in TNF-α expression (P<0.001), and a higher degree of inflammatory response. Conversely, the decrease in 50%PT in the SIS mesh group was less than that in the PP mesh group (Day 1 P=0.028, Day 3 P=0.018), with no significant behavioral changes observed, and a lower degree of inflammatory response in the abdominal wall tissue.

The use of hernia meshes made from different materials results in different levels of postoperative pain and local inflammation, which can lead to significant behavioral changes. Thus, implanting different types of meshes can exhibit different degrees of subjective comfort, with SIS meshes potentially offering superior comfort over PP meshes.