The hernia repair device market has grown at a steady pace of 4.8 percent per year since 2008, reaching $3.5 billion in 2012, said a recent report from healthcare market research publisher Kalorama Information.
The report, "Hernia Repair Device Markets and Procedures," indicates that the market has experienced a consistent increase in demand for mesh and other products commonly used in hernia surgeries.
A hernia is the protrusion of an organ or part of an organ through a defect in the supporting structures that normally contain it. It is a common problem affecting roughly 8 million people a year in the United States, Europe and Asia, said the report.
The main factors driving the uptick in the market are the aging of the population, rising obesity rates and the high cost of implementing new state-of-the-art technologies in surgeries, said Bruce Carlson, Kalorama’s publisher.
“Despite its being common as a procedure, there are lots of innovations in mesh and in surgical equipment increasing prices and thus boosting the market for proven products,” said Carlson.
“Driving these innovations is the search for an optimal mesh that combines several key qualities: strength and resistance to tearing, flexibility, resistance to infection,” he added.
Carlson expects the market growth to continue at a similar pace for at least the next five years but says one factor that could slow it down is the need for extensive training on how to use the new products.
“New techniques and innovative devices are great, but they have to be integrated into medical practice, and that means training,” he said. “The training involved in laparoscopic hernia procedures has been one of the more difficult hurdles in the quest to provide this technology and service to patients.”