TY - JOUR T1 - Surgical adhesives in ophthalmology: history and current trends JF - British Journal of Ophthalmology JO - Br J Ophthalmol SP - 1328 LP - 1335 DO - 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2017-311643 VL - 102 IS - 10 AU - Samantha Guhan AU - Si-Liang Peng AU - Hrag Janbatian AU - Stephanie Saadeh AU - Stephen Greenstein AU - Faisal Al Bahrani AU - Ali Fadlallah AU - Tsai-Chu Yeh AU - Samir A Melki Y1 - 2018/10/01 UR - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/102/10/1328.abstract N2 - Tissue adhesives are gaining popularity in ophthalmology, as they could potentially reduce the complications associated with current surgical methods. An ideal tissue adhesive should have superior tensile strength, be non-toxic and anti-inflammatory, improve efficiency and be cost-effective. Both synthetic and biological glues are available. The primary synthetic glues include cyanoacrylate and the recently introduced polyethylene glycol (PEG) derivatives, while most biological glues are composed of fibrin. Cyanoacrylate has a high tensile strength, but rapidly polymerises upon contact with any fluid and has been associated with histotoxicity. Fibrin induces less toxic and inflammatory reactions, and its polymerisation time can be controlled. Tensile strength studies have shown that fibrin is not as strong as cyanoacrylate. While more research is needed, PEG variants currently appear to have the most promise. These glues are non-toxic, strong and time-effective. Through MEDLINE and internet searches, this paper presents a systematic review of the current applications of surgical adhesives to corneal, glaucoma, retinal, cataract and strabismus surgeries. Our review suggests that surgical adhesives have promise to reduce problems in current ophthalmic surgical procedures. ER -