Biological meshes for abdominal hernia: Lack of evidence-based recommendations for clinical use

•In abdominal hernia repair, no sound criteria have been established to support the use of biological meshes.•In our study, 11 trials (employing 5 biological meshes) were selected; surgical site infection and recurrence were evaluated.•Both end-points showed a wide between-study variability; a lower rate of recurrence was found for a specific product.•The current evidence does not permit to identify a place in therapy for biological meshes in abdominal hernia repair.