In vivo evaluation of a new sealant material on a rat lung air leak model.

The ability of an albumin-based hydrogel sealant (ABHS) to prevent air leakage through the suture line after pulmonary surgery was evaluated by comparison with that of a fibrin glue (FG). As an air-leak model, a rat lung was used in which a standard incision was made and the burst pressure for ABHS and FG was measured. The average burst pressures at time 0 for the FG and ABHS groups were 30.8+/-15.2 and 77.5 +/-19.1 mmHg, respectively. At Day 3, the value of ABHS (76.3 +/- 15.8 mmHg) was still significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of FG (60.0 +/- 21.9 mmHg). At Day 7, no statistical difference was observed between the FG group(71.2 +/- 18.6 mmHg) and the ABHS group(88.8 +/- 11.7 mmHg). Histological examination of the incision at Day 14 revealed that neither sealant was not visible at the incision site, and there was no evidence of adverse tissue reaction. It was concluded that ABHS had good sealing properties and is an alternative to FG for air leakage treatment in pulmonary surgery. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.