Sealants, glues and securement products

Thursday, 02 September 2010 00:46 |

Healthcare Blogs - Healthcare Reflections Blogs

Wounds have been closed and secured through the use of suture materials since ancient Egyptian times. In the modern medical age, suture materials have evolved through a succession of stages from non-resorbable, to resorbable, to stapling devices. Since sutures still represent the majority of products used for wound closure and securement, it is important to discuss this class of products and their relationship with adjunctive measures, and with newer products under development.

There are six main categories of closure and securement devices as discussed below:

Sutures, Staples, and Other Mechanical Closure Devices
Tapes
Hemostats
Fibrin and Other Sealants
High-Strength Medical Adhesives
Post-Surgical Adhesion Prevention

This market may be subdivided into the following product categories: sutures, staples and other mechanical closure devices; tapes; hemostats; fibrin and other sealants; high-strength medical adhesives; and post-surgical adhesion prevention. The total securement market is growing at an aggregate of almost 10% annually.

Definition of Surgical Closure and Securement Products

Product	Description
Suture	Sutures are medical devices made out of woven or single filament fibers of steel, synthetic polymer or natural biomaterials that are used to secure cuts, lacerations, and incisions in the surface or internal tissues.
Staple	Staples are rigid or semi-rigid suture-like materials delivered through a closure device and consisting of single- or multi-filament fibers of steel, synthetic polymer or natural biomaterials that are used to secure cuts, lacerations, and incisions in the surface or internal tissues.
Tape	Tapes are fabric and polymer-based medical devices that are used to secure cuts, lacerations, and incisions in the surface of the skin as an adjunct to wound closure.
Hemostat	A hemostat reacts in the presence of blood to establish the normal cascade of factors that arrest bleeding. These products can be added to a bleeding field during surgery to prevent further bleeding, and are mostly dependent on a full complement of normal factors in the patients blood.
Sealant	A sealant will prevent leakage of fluid and/or gas from a surgical incision (such as pulmonary gases or spinal fluids). These products will often hold back pressurized fluids from normal vascular activity. Although their efficiency does not normally require the full complement of active clotting factors in blood to be within normal levels, these products (e.g., fibrin sealants) normally also have some hemostatic activity.
Glue/adhesive	Glues and adhesives (e.g., cyanoacrylate glues) are used to attach organs, structures, or tissues to each other or to effect repair. These materials can be enhanced by incorporating additional hemostatic or sealant properties, such as Angiotechs Vitagel (a combination of collagen and thrombin) and Nycomeds Tachocomb (a combination of thrombin, collagen and fibrin).
Adhesion	Abnormal joining of two organs or tissues occurring after inflammation, especially post-surgery. Adhesion-prevention products are medical devices or substances made from synthetic polymer or natural biomaterials that are manufactured into gels, fabrics, films, and dried solids that are used to avoid the formation of post-surgical adhesions (PSA).