A surgical mesh of the type used in laparoscopic surgery and repair of inguinal hernias includes a compact roll of planar overlay material of woven fibers. The planar overlay material includes a plurality of outwardly extending integral threads for grasping with a surgical instrument and spreading over a tissue deficiency. In addition, a plurality of integral threads are provided for transfixation of said overlay material to surrounding tissue. Further, the woven fibers are selected from the group consisting of nylon, polyester, polypropylene fibers and mixtures thereof and in which the outwardly extending threads for grasping have a length of about ½ to 1 cm and the transfixation threads have a length of about 3 cm to 4 cm. In addition, the grasping threads extend outwardly from both sides of the mesh while the transfixation threads extend outwardly from only one side thereof.