THE n-ALKYL-α-cyanoacrylate monomers have the ability to adhere to moist living tissues. Methyl-α-cyanoacrylate monomer, in particular, has been used since 1960 by many investigators as a tissue adhesive for various surgical procedures, although the monomer is not widely used in clinical surgery. This is because of two factors: histotoxicity and relative failure of adhesive versus suture techniques. It is our belief that the success of surgical application of the cyanoacrylate tissue adhesive is dependent on the new surgical techniques suitable for the use of monomers in addition to development of a better monomer(s). New techniques have been developed at this Institute using the higher homologous monomers.
This paper evaluates the various higher homologous monomers used for the surgery of internal organs. (Table 1). A useful tissue adhesive must possess several properties. These are (1) shelf stability, (2) polymerization in the presence of moisture to a thin polymer film, (3) adequate