Development of a compliant surgical adhesive derived from novel fluorinated hexamethylene diisocyanate.

We have recently developed a novel compliant surgical adhesive, based on urethane chemistry, that imparts excellent in vivo performance, except for a potential carcinogenic problem associated with aromatic diisocyanates. In this article, a chronic histopathologic study was conducted by implantation of adhesives in subcutaneous and hepatic tissues for up to 20 months. Neither carcinogenic episodes nor tissue abnormalities were found. Based on the structure-carcinogenic potential relationship of diisocyanates, fluorinated hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI) was found to be noncarcinogenic, despite its high nucleophilic reactivity. The fluorinated HMDI based adhesive was defined as the most reliable adhesive, with best in vivo performance, including ensured nontoxicity.