Surgical Glue: A Brief Overview

Wound closure is one of the cardinal steps of surgical procedure, and suturing is the most widely used method of wound closure. The process of suturing usually prolongs the length of surgery and increases the patient’s risk of anesthesia awareness. It has several disadvantages, including iatrogenic trauma to the tissue, pain, increased risk of infection and inflammation, delayed healing, and inability to provide an immediate seal. Lately, there has been a growing interest in surgical glues as a substitute to suturing. However, surgical glues have their own unique disadvantages, which need to be addressed in designing “ideal” surgical glue.