Abdominal wall incisional hernias: infected prosthesis: treatment and prevention.

In clean surgery (Altemeier Class I), the incidence of infections is not increased by the placement of prosthetic material. Prosthetic mesh infections occur more frequently and are more serious in ventral incisional repair than in inguinal hernia repair. While removal of the mesh resolves the infectious problem, it creates other problems that are equally difficult. This underscores the need to: explore other conservative hernia treatment options; in the end, these are often feasible; respect and implement strict measures to prevent infection.