OBJECTIVE To compare the clinical and histological outcomes of the repair of induced abdominal wall defects with Parietex and Optilene Mesh Elastic + Safil in direct contact with abdominal viscera (intraperitoneal position, IPOM). METHODS Sixteen rabbits were allocated into two groups with 8 animals each, corresponding to evaluation on the 30th and 60th postoperative days. All animals were submitted to two standardized symmetric abdominal wall defects, comprising all muscular layers and the peritoneum, followed by repair through the intraperitoneal placement of two different meshes. The experimental design allowed each animal to be its own control. Macroscopic aspects evaluated were: surgical site infection, mesh erosion, suture insufficiency, fistulae, intra-abdominal infection and adhesion formation. Microscopic parameters analyzed consisted of collagen deposition and the immunohistochemical healing process. RESULTS The formation of intraperitoneal adhesions and the other macroscopic outcome measures evaluated did not present significant statistical differences between the two meshes, neither did type I and III collagen deposition and MMP-1 and MMP-8 antibody expression. MMP-13 antibody exhibited significantly higher expression on the 30th postoperative day with Optilene+Safil and on the 60th day with Parietex. CONCLUSIONS Due to the similar results obtained, both macroscopically and microscopically, the meshes can be considered equivalent with respect to the healing of surgical wounds in abdominal wall defects in rabbits.