Bioinspired Patch for Prevention of Gastrointestinal Anastomotic Leaks

Risk-adjusted mortality and morbidity define a quality standard for surgical care. Among postoperative complications, anastomotic leaks inflict more pain and suffering than any other surgical. The standard care to close wounds still mostly rely on traditional methods such as sutures. Sutures placed by hand uniformly invoke an inflammatory response because dragging the thread through the bowel wall injures tissue and causes reductions in ischemia, tissue necrosis, or narrowing of the lumen. During the last two decades, various attempts with fibrin glue, collagen patches, and degradable stents have been carried out to prevent anastomotic leaks. However, there is no convincing evidence thus far to demonstrate the effectiveness of these methods in decreasing occurrence of anastomotic leaks. The outcomes are closely related to the limitations of the commercial patches, which lack the high-strength bonding to tissue surfaces required in the fluid-rich intraperitoneal cavity. For example, Fibrin glue shows low adhesion force upon tissue contact and suffers from the risk of virus or prion contamination. Cyanoacrylate derivatives, which exhibit cytotoxicity due to degraded byproducts. Thus, it is highly desirable to develop biocompatible and mechanically stable adhesives for use in intraperitoneal spaces. In this talk, we will introduce our body fluid-resistant, biocompatible adhesive patches inspired by mussel adhesion. We addressed two long-existing challenges, aimed at the prevention of anastomotic leaks and promoting the wound healing.