Determination of shear strength of periosteum attached to bone with BioGlue Surgical Adhesive.

Objective: To determine the shear strength of BioGlue Surgical Adhesive (Cryolife Inc, Kennesaw, Georgia) for use in periosteal fixation in endoscopic browplasty.

Methods: In a controlled design, the shear strength of periosteal attachment to native bone and that of dissected periosteum affixed to bone with BioGlue surgical adhesive was physiologically determined. Twenty-one periosteum and bone samples were harvested from 3 human cadavers. These samples were tested for maximum shear strength using an Instron Model 5500 universal materials testing machine. Native samples consisted of periosteum still attached to the bone surface, while BioGlue samples consisted of dissected periosteum reattached to the bone surface using BioGlue surgical adhesive. The maximum shear strength attained for each sample was recorded and used to determine if native samples differed from those using BioGlue surgical adhesive.

Results: The mean (SD) maximum shear strength values obtained during testing were 57.8 (31.7) kPa and 45.9 (27.4) kPa (589.4 [323.3] gram force [gf]/cm(2) and 468.0 [279.4] gf/cm(2)) for native (n=8) and BioGlue (n=9) samples, respectively. There was no statistical difference between the native and BioGlue samples (P> .05) using analysis of variance.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the adhesive properties of BioGlue are similar to the strength of attachment of native periosteum to bone and supports the use of BioGlue as an alternative method of fixation for use in endoscopic brow-lifting.