Challenges of surgical techniques improvement for abdominal hernia and repair materials development to hernia surgery

The purpose of hernioplasty is to repair defects and restore abdominal wall function, and ultimately to improve the quality of patients′ life. With the innovation of basic theories, anatomical concepts, surgical techniques and repair materials, hernioplasty has made tremendous progress, but its basic principles of treatment have not changed. In recent 20 years, hernia surgery in China has entered a period of comprehensive and rapid development, showing a leap in the level of diagnosis and treatment, surgical technology, the number of operations and other aspects. Meanwhile, a series of clinical quality control systems, such as training, registration and adverse event monitoring, have been established, making China the top level of the world as a whole. At present, the surgical methods of abdominal wall hernia are flourishing and developing rapidly. The application of different levels, different approaches and different materials in the treatment of individualized patients has shown good clinical results. Of course, there is no repair material that meets the requirements of "ideal patch" . Although the implantation of synthetic materials has greatly improved the clinical effect of hernia, the permanent presence of foreign materials also brings about the possibility of long-term complications. A series of absorbable materials represented by "tissue-induced biomaterials" are closer to human tissues, which may represent the direction of the development of hernia repair materials, but long-term follow-up results are still needed to confirm their clinical efficacy. Key words: Hernia; Abdominal hernia; Surgery; Materialogy