An assessment of a collagen/vicryl composite membrane to repair defects of the urinary bladder in rabbits

Abstract

Collagen/vicryl (Polyglactin) composite membrane has been used to repair full-thickness defects in the urinary bladder of rabbits. The material has been shown to be biodegradable, prevent leakage of urine, and is readily replaced by collagenous scar tissue lined with a urothelium. Regeneration of smooth muscle has been observed in the repair area of some animals. The results suggest that such a material may well be of use to urologists wishing to augment contracted bladders or in the repair of bladder fistulae in human subjects, thereby avoiding the use of bowel or other material e.g. omentum.

Some Observations on the Regeneration of Smooth Muscle in the Repaired Urinary Bladder of the Rabbit

“…In our studies, no attempt was made to divert urine from the urinary tract, and hence a normal physiological movement of the bladder was able to take place. Blocks prepared for histology in our two series of experiments [1,2] were serially sectioned to show that islets of smooth muscle present in the repair area were not arising from the pre-existing detrusor muscle. Our results therefore show that, under the conditions of our experiments, when a full thickness defect of the urinary bladder is replaced by a biodegradable membrane, smooth muscle regeneration can occur within the granu lation tissue of the repair site, presumably as a result of myoblastic differentiation.…”

“…The repair of full thickness defects in the urinary bladder of 43 mature rabbits has already been described [1,2], From these two series of experiments, samples were obtained in which there was clear evidence of smooth muscle regeneration both at the margins and within the repair site. By re-examining the material already produced, the samples used to illustrate this paper were obtained.…”

“…In the present study we re-examined some of our find ings in which we used a composite membrane of collagen and Vicryl to repair full thickness defects created in the wall of the urinary bladder of rabbits [1,2], A full thick ness section of bladder tissue was removed and replaced by a 1.5 X 1.5 cm piece of collagen/Vicryl composite membrane. While healing was taking place, no attempt was made to divert the urine from the urinary tract dur ing these experiments.…”

Scaffold Design for Tissue Engineering

“…A number of three-dimensional porous scaffolds fabricated from various kinds of biodegradable materials have been developed and used for tissue engineering of liver, [13] bladder, [14,15] nerve, [16] skin, [17] bone, [18] cartilage, [19 -22] and ligament, [23,24] etc. This review summarizes some of the recent developments.…”

The Role of Nanomedicine in Growing Tissues

“…Many synthetic materials have been tried in experimental and clinical settings as bladder replacements (such as polyvinyl sponges, tetrafluoroethylene, gelatin scaffolds, collagen matrices, and vicryl matrices). 4,8,25,42,59,70,85 However, these attempts have usually failed because of mechanical, structural, functional, or biocompatibility problems. Also, permanent synthetic materials often succumb to mechanical failure, and urinary stone formation and the use of degradable materials lead to fibroblast deposition, scarring, graft contracture, and a reduced reservoir volume over time.…”