Abstract:
Over the past few decades, the suture has been the practice of choice for wound management, which held the tissues in close proximity for fast healing and stopped body fluid leakage. However, the suture is not ideal and not suitable for many procedures owing to the inherent invasion of sutures. Complete sealing of incisions by sutures may cause additional damage to the surrounding tissues of surgical sites. In addition, the incision closure using sutures requires a specific technical skill of the surgeons, which influences the duration and success of the operation. Moreover, the suture-enclosed wounds have a higher infection rate and face the subsequent removal of the suture. To solve these problems, medical adhesives have emerged as attractive alternatives to suturing due to their facile application. The medical adhesive is an atraumatic, fast, and painless method for wound management, which exhibits effective hemostasis, efficient prevention of body fluid leakage, strong tissue bonding, and minimal scarring. Surgical materials for medical adhesives should be biocompatible, biodegradable, and inexpensive. In this regard, bioadhesive hydrogels have attracted growing attention owing to excellent properties, including high adhesive strength and fast curing capability. The preparation methods of bioadhesive hydrogels are summarized in this review. The adhesion mechanism of bioadhesive hydrogel is usually the combination of multiple interactions with one interaction being dominant. In addition, the biomedical applications of bioadhesive hydrogels are introduced, and the development of bioadhesive hydrogels with unique properties is also predicted.