Sealants

Surgical sealants provide a flexible yet sturdy matrix over leakages and bleeding. They adhere to tissues through covalent polymerization. At BD, our sealants have the following applications:

• Progel™ Pleural Air Leak Sealant works by gelling at the tissue site, binding directly to the lung for optimal adherence and an airtight seal.
• Tridyne™ Vascular Sealant works by forming a strong, flexible hydrogel seal at the application site, even in anticoagulated patients.

It was found in a study that the regular use of a surgical sealant resulted in fewer incidences of prolonged air leaks which helped decrease morbidity and mortality in surgical patients as compared to not using sealants.

• As many as 58% of lung surgery patients will experience an air leak, and more than 15% will develop a persistent air leak after surgery. In a clinical trial of patients undergoing Video-Assisted or Robotic-Assisted lung resection, Progel™ Pleural Air Leak Sealant sealed or reduced 96% of air leaks in the OR.
• In a prospective, randomized, controlled multicenter study, Tridyne™ Vascular Sealant outperformed Gelfoam® Plus Hemostasis Kit in several critical measures. The study included 156 patients from 18 different centers who underwent thoracic aortic surgery, with hemostasis evaluated at the aortic anastomotic suture line.

There is a wide range of sealants available for different scenarios. Among the most common types include fibrin, glutaraldehyde-albumin, polyethylene-glycol-based and cyanoacrylates.

At BD, both Progel™ Pleural Air Leak Sealant and Tridyne™ Vascular Sealant are made from a formulation of Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) and Human Serum Albumin (HSA). 

While fibrin sealants are the most common, the effectiveness of surgical sealants depends on the setting and surgical area. There is no single sealant that is more effective in all situations than others. BD offers two sealants that are effective in the right situation:

• Progel™ Pleural Air Leak Sealant is the only sealant approved by the FDA to treat pleural air leaks and is the only sealant clinically proven to effectively treat air leak complications in both open and minimally invasive thoracic surgery.
• Tridyne™ Vascular Sealant forms a completely clear hydrogel at the application site, allowing for visual confirmation of hemostasis at the anastomotic suture line—making it an ideal choice for aortic surgery.

Surgical sealants are generally safe, but some risks have been noted, such as albumin allergic reactions as well as the risk of stenosis in albumin-based sealants. Polyethylene-glycol-based sealants also have a risk of impaired renal function, making them unadvisable to use in cases of renal insufficiency. For a complete list of precautions and warnings for Progel^TM PALS or Tridyne^TM Vascular Sealant please see product IFUs.