February 17th, 2011 by Peggy Polaneczky, M.D. in Health Tips, Research
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Bioadhesives are a reasonable alternative to sutures for repair of perineal lacerations sustained during childbirth, according to a poster presentation at last week’s annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
Researchers at the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem randomized women with first degree perineal tears to either 2-octyl cyanoacrylate (Dermabond) adhesive glue or suture for wound closure. While healing and incisional pain was similar, women who received the adhesive closure were more satisfied than those who were sutured.
In Portugal, bioadhesives have been studied for closure of the top skin layer of an episiotomy repair, and found to shorten the duration of the procedure with similar outcomes to suture in terms of pain, healing, and infection.
Biologic adhesives are chemically related to Super Glue, which is ethyl-cyanoacrylate. Midwives have been using Super Glue for perineal wound repair for some time, according to Anne Frye, who has authored a book on wound closure for midwives, and who gives instructions for its use in repair of perineal lacerations. Apparently Super Glue was also used by the military during Vietnam for wound closure.
A PubMed search on Dermabond finds multiple studies of its use, from plastic surgery to mastectomy, surgical wound closure, retinal surgery, lung and gastric leak closure, and even on esophageal varices. RL Bates mentions Dermabond as an option to repair skin tears in elderly patients. This stuff is turning into the duct tape of the medical profession.
It’s important to remember that adhesives are only for superficial skin closure, as use in deeper layers can cause irritation and burning of tissues. Side effects of their use include irritation and allergic reactions and of course wound infections, and pain can always occur no matter how one closes a wound.
*This blog post was originally published at The Blog That Ate Manhattan*
October 11th, 2009 by Bongi in Better Health Network, True Stories
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I recently read a post that reminded me of an incident. depending on which side of the eyelid you found yourself that day, it could have been funny…or not.
I was doing casualty sessions after hours. It was a way of making ends meet while I was specialising, but mostly I just hated it. Anyway one night, between the snotty noses and neurotic parents a patient actually came in with a casualty-worthy complaint. He had a small laceration on his forehead. We decided to glue it together with dermabond because it was so small. I decided to leave it to the sister. After all the unit was full to overflowing with snotty noses and paranoid parents that I was required to work through and get rid of.
After a while the sister came to me. She had terror written all over her face. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at other things amanzi*
October 3rd, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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This little girl accidentally got Super Glue onto her eyelid. She came to the doctor without pain and she was able to move the eyeball under the lid but could not open it.
Her doctor in Decatur, Ala gently irrigated the eye area with normal saline and applied antibiotic ointment and a gauze patch over the eye area but the lid remained stuck together. The next day he was able to gently pull the lid open.
If you should ever glue parts of your body together with Super Glue (cyanoacrylate), the treatment is easy. Acetone, the ingredient found in nail polish remover will dissolve Super Glue. A Q-tip with acetone, gently applied to the area, will dissolve the bond without damaging the skin. Don’t pull the skin apart, but gently roll or peel it.
If Super Glue gets in the eyeball, the eye protein will disassociate from it over time. A warm sodium bicarbonate solution eyewash will help remove the adhesive.
Photo/story credit: Consultant
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*