New Skin Graft Adhesive Approved (July 2008)

FDA recently approved a new medical adhesive called Artiss to attach skin grafts onto burn patients. Artiss is made by Baxter Healthcare. Artiss has a lower thrombin concentration than other fibrin sealants, which gives surgeons more time to position the skin graft over a burn before the graft starts to adhere to the skin. In a multicenter clinical trial, Artiss was compared to surgical staples using two different wound sites on the same patient. The results showed that Artiss was comparable to staples in achieving complete wound closure. The most frequent adverse events, which were seen in both treatment groups, included bleeding and fluid collection in the tissues. Both of these events are common during skin grafting.