Benefits and biosafety of use of buckypaper for surgical applications. A pilot study in a rabbit clinical trial model

Background: One of the main problems related to prosthetic abdominal surgery is mesh fixation. Suture line tension, meshseparation, displacement, or improper application of stitches are the leading causes of complications, including seroma,postoperative pain, and recurrence. A surface able to adhere firmly to living tissue represents an effective alternative toconventional perforating fixations. As a bio-adhesive tape, we report experimental evidence on the potential applicability ofthe BuckyPaper (BP), a felt composed of entangled multi-walled carbon nanotubes.Matherial and methods: BP is implanted to assess its biosafety and effectiveness as an adhesive prosthetic device.Results: During 35 days we observed no rabbit behavioral alteration, BP stability in the implantation site, good adhesion,and integration of the device with the surrounding tissue, and no adverse reactions.Conclusions: BP could be used as an adhesive to secure the prostheses to tissues in abdominal wall prosthetic surgery, butlarge-size animal studies are needed.