In Vitro Assessment of Microbial Barrier Properties of Cyanoacrylate Tissue Adhesives and Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives

Background: Despite advances in incision care and surgical dressings, surgical site infections remain a common complication. Post-operative contamination of a surgical site is believed to play a role in many of these infections. Most surgical dressings adhere to the skin with pressure-sensitive adhesives. Cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives bond to skin with much greater strength and have inherent antimicrobial properties. This study was designed to compare the microbial barrier properties of common pressure-sensitive adhesives to medical-grade cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives (2-octyl cyanoacrylate and N-butyl cyanoacrylate). Methods: Samples of cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives and pressure-sensitive adhesives were placed on solid culture media. Five common bacterial pathogens were used to contaminate 50 cyanoacrylate samples and 150 pressure-sensitive adhesive samples. Each plate was evaluated for bacterial growth underneath the adhesive sample daily for a total of 72 hours. Results: No penetration was seen through any of the cyanoacrylate adhesive samples at 72 hours. In sharp contrast, bacteria penetrated 99.3% of the pressure-sensitive adhesive samples at 72 hours. Conclusions: Medical grade cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives provide a superior microbial barrier compared with common pressure-sensitive adhesives. Consideration could be given to the use of these adhesives for the securement of surgical dressings.