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Bio-adhesive For Viscera And Tissues

May 28, 2004

It is more convenient to glue parts together than to suture them. Even surgeons agree to that. They only need a good adhesive. Siberian researchers have created the third generation bio-adhesive and successfully tested it on animals.

Surgery is steadily improving methods for joining of slit parts. To solve the problem, biological adhesives were recently used. More often physicians use chemical compounds based on alpha cyanoacrylates, which do not provoke allergy or stimulate tumorogenesis. The Novosibirsk researchers, specialists of the Central Administrative Board for Research Center of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences), Central Administrative Board for Scientific Research Institute of Regional Pathology and Pathomorphology (Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences) and Novosibirsk State Medical Academy (Ministry of Public Health of the Russian Federation) have developed a new adhesive composition called "Sulfacrylate" and tested it in practice.

"Sulfacrylate" is bio-adhesive of the third generation, it includes various esters of acrylic acid and its derivatives. Experiments were carried out on 142 animals: rats, outbred cats and Chinchilla rabbits. Under anaesthetic, in line with all rules of operating skill, a part of animals' liver, spleen, kindey or bowels was ablated and then the injured tissues were glued together. The background groups consisted of the animals which were sutured after the operation. The researchers were interested in the influence of bio-adhesive on the tissues in the course of cicatrization, therefore the operated animals were slaughtered 3, 6 and 12 hours, a day, a week and a month after the operation to investigate the tissue status under the microscope.

The observations proved that the adhesive lays well on tissues and forms a polymer film. The film stops local bleeding and joins the slit parts hermetically. The zone of mortifing tissue, which always occurs in the area of the wound, was small and well-defined. "Sulfacrylate" contributed to formation of this zone, however its local toxic effect was over soon. In a month the wound closed up completely and the adhesive dissolved. Inflammation inevitably accompanies cicatrization, but the adhesive allowed to avoid festering. The animals from the background group had tissues injured not only during the operation, but also during suture, therefore the necrotic zone and local hemorrhages were much more extensive than in case of utilizing the adhesive, and cicatrization went through a stage of suppurative inflammation with microabscesses.

The benefits of "Sulfacrylate" are particularly noticeable in the cases when a lanced intestine is to be joined butt-to-butt. The researchers tested this joint for strength with the help of special pneumoequipment, which allows to measure the threshhold pressure: the adhesive joins stronger than the suture material. Glued intestinal loops can stand even severe treatment when getting preparations ready for microscopy. No stitch separated, no intestinal lumen was narrowed, no commissures occured either between intestinal loops, or adjacent organs, let alone peritonitis. Three months after the operation, the glued intestine remained elastic and did not become deformed, but the animals from the background group experienced all complications typical of intestines operations.

Informnauka (Informscience) Agency