An experimental study of a cyanoacrylate biological adhesive in view of its use in the fixation of various fractures of the fingers.

Following certain interesting results reported in publications by researchers from the nineteen-sixties up to the present time, we decided to experiment a particular adhesive with high adhesive properties: this is composed of monomers of alpha-cyanoacrylate éthyl-2-alpha-cyanoacrylate. For this end, experiments were performed on 15 adult chickens, aged around 4 months, weighing 2 kg, divided into 5 groups of 3 chickens each. In each chicken, a rectangular bone fragment from the proximal-middle third of the tibia was prepared, completely separated, and then subsequently re-positioned and fixed with the adhesive plus collagen. At pre-established intervals (7, 14, 21, 30 and 60 days), each group of chickens was examined by x-rays and then killed, so that the particular anatomical part under examination could be studied both microscopically and macroscopically. The aim of these experiments was to evaluate the ability of cyanoacrylate adhesive to ensure setting of small bone-fragments that would otherwise be unstable. The results obtained showed the following: good stability of the bone fragment; good bone consolidation; absence of foreign body reactions. The positive nature of these results leads us to propose the use of this adhesive in hand surgery. Nevertheless, duty requires that further experiments be performed in order to acquire even greater guarantees for the positive results obtained.