Abstract
Purpose: :
To compare the sealing capacity of a biological tissue adhesive patch vs. standard sutures for central corneal wounds.
Methods: :
A keratome knife 2.85 mm was used to create a central, perpendicular corneal wounds in cadaveric rabbit eyes (n=10). Lesions were sealed with either a collagen–based tissue adhesive patch (n=5), or three interrupted nylon 10–0 sutures (n=5). After the adhesive patch was placed in the incision, a 1.45–µm wavelength diode laser with a spot size of 4.0 mm at 1.00 W was applied for 5–7 sec to induce cross–linking between the collagen fibers of the patch and the corneal tissue. Wound stability was tested by infusion of saline connected to the anterior chamber and slowly increasing the IOP by raising the height of the bag. Pressure changes were monitored with a digital manometer and leaking pressure was recorded.
Results: :
The mean baseline IOP in the intact globes was 133.17 mmHg (SD 14.9), (range 110–168.8 mmHg) at a height of 200 cm above the eye. The mean IOP after corneal incision was 2.03 mmHg (SD 1.3), (range 0.1–4.8 mmHg). The mean leaking pressure in the suture group was 82.76 mmHg (SD 6.5), (range 76–93 mmHg), while in the adhesive patch was 101.42 mmHg (SD 29.9), (60–138 mmHg) (P=0.2222). Two of the eyes of the adhesive patch group showed no leakage at the maximum pressure allowed by our system.
Conclusions: :
The tested adhesive patch was shown to be effective ex vivo for sealing central corneal incisions in rabbit eyes, and demonstrated to be similar to standard sutures in this model.
Keywords: laser • wound healing