and or the stiffener 146 may also provide a bending effect that permits the sling 150 to follow an axial bend along its length finally the dilator 140 and the stiffener 146 can reduce damage to the sling 150 during handling the stiffener 146 may be made of the same material or a different material than the dilator 140 the stiffener 146 may be made of any of a variety of materials compatible with the above described considerations including but not limited to polyethylene polypropylene and acrylic the stiffener 146 may provide approximately 1 cm radius of bending to 2 cm radius of bending the stiffener 146 may be porous to permit a solution to access the sling 150 during a soak with a solution examples of such materials include but are not limited to polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate made porous by methods well known in the art other suitable materials will be apparent to those skilled in the art the dilator 140 and the stiffener 146 may be adapted to releasably engage the sling 150 the dilator 140 may also be marked to indicate the position of the sling 150 in the body the marking s 148 are placed along at least a portion of the length of the dilator 140 in this manner.