Patent ID: 7094261

Claim:
In a method for performing hernia surgery on a patient wherein a mesh is positioned in the inguinal canal of the patient to help avoid a hernia relapse, the improvement comprising (a) providing a prosthesis comprising a pre-shaped surgical mesh having upper and lower mesh layers, each of said upper and lower mesh layers defining a hole, an outer edge and a slit from the hole to the outer edge, said upper and lower mesh layers overlapping one another with the hole of the upper mesh layer coaxially coincident with the hole of the lower mesh layer and with the slit of the upper mesh layer diverging from the slit of the lower mesh layer at an angle so as to define a zone between the respective slits of the upper and lower mesh layers around which the outer edge of the upper mesh layer is not joined to the outer edge of the lower mesh layer, the upper and lower mesh layers being otherwise joined along their respective outer edges, and so as to form an upper fin in the upper mesh layer and a lower fin in the lower mesh layer, wherein the upper and lower fins are bendable in respective downward and upward directions such that the lower fin can be tucked and overlapped above the upper fin to provide for self-blocking of the prosthesis; and (b) implanting the prosthesis into the patient with the coaxially coincident holes of the upper and lower mesh layers around the spermatic cord of the patient and with the lower fin tucked and overlapped above the upper fin.