Comments on: “Kryptonite” Super Glue For Sternum Healing

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 02:33:08 +0000

I had the glue used on my surgery in may 2009. I think I was number 4 to be done. Fast recovery. I am glad I participated in the trial.

By: Talbot

Talbot — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:30:59 +0000

Had Kryptonite glue used for sternum closure (1st case use at my hospital in Montreal), on May 17, 2010. Surgery was open heart (OHS) to replace bicuspid aortic valve and repair mitral valve in a 56 year old patient.
With the immediate solidity provided by the cement in sternum, recovery was very fast, as I only had to contend with tissue healing. I have had a very smooth and fast recovery, with little to no pain in breathing and walking exercises required to accelerate recovery.
The procedure likely does not shorten the hospital stay (maybe one day), but does allow the patient to be far more mobile once home and with more activity, likely shorten the recovery period from the trauma of surgery.
I highly recommend the bone cement procedure, worked well for me and am happy surgeon was curious enough to use me as a test case, so that he could evaluate this sternum closure alterntative.
Gil

By: kasia

kasia — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:39:18 +0000

Hello,
Kryptonite closure does sound very promising for use in sternotomies, however, I think that long term studies are necessary to address outcomes. So far there were less than 100 patients in Canada that had the closure with Kryptonite and that is not enough to say that Kryptonite is the way to go. It does cost approximately 1,000 $ per patient and it does not cut the hospital stay in patients that have no complications post open heart surgery. I have seen kryptonite used in one of my patients and so far I can not say that it was successfull. The closure with kryptonite still requires the use of wires, so I am just little bit skeptical as it comes to using sternal precautions, especially in bigger build patients, as there is still risk of breaking the wires. I am also wandering about deep sternal infections and how they spread through the bone when cryptonite is used, as it is very porous material. Another question comes to mind about the studies done and who were the subjects? Did the patients have other medical conditions with many comorbidies or were they healthy subjects that only had CAD. I think that we need more time and larger studies in order to say that Kryptonite is the way to go!

By: Chelsea

Chelsea — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:26:01 +0000

I have had 3 open chest surgeries the last being Monday January 25th. My first two were done the old fashioned wire method and the last Kryptonite was used. All I have to say is that this stuff is a miracle I woke up from surgery thinking that they hadn’t even done it- recovery was extremely fast and I was home only 3 days later. I am thrilled with the results!

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:35:40 +0000

Like Sheila above, I too heard about this on CBC radio. Good idea!
Is there something special about the sternum that only allows this adhesive to be used there, or does this glue work for all bones?

The reason I ask is because my friend’s mother, who is in her seventies, recently fell and broke her hip. It’s a common thing with older people and it sometimes takes months for them to regain their mobility. If this glue works on all bones, then combined with screws and steel pins, it could have these people back on their feet within weeks. That would free up a lot of hospital beds.

If all bone fractures could be treated in this way then this is a major medical discovery. Recovery times could be considerably shortened and suffering could be minimized if we could just start glueing broken bones.
I suppose if surgery is required to expose the bone, it might be best to use it only on complicated fractures where surgery is required anyway.
I don’t know, it’s just a thought. You’re the doctors.

By: Anony

Anony — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:16:57 +0000

Sheila wrote:
> The response I received from my surgeon was that it didn’t
> have any long-term studies done as yet so wiring the sternum
> is still the standard practice. Does Dr Fedak have any long-term
> studies re: what happens in there is a need to go back into the
> heart – how do you cut through the sternum after using this
> glue? Is it toxic to the body?

Hi Sheila:

Regarding studies, that is precisely what Dr. Fedak is doing. Dr. Fedak is a PhD’s Cardiac Surgeon at the ‘cutting edge’ (no pun intended). Items such as this do not become standard practice till thought and science leaders like he do their work – an initial pilot study followed by full-fledged international clinical trial.

Regarding getting in there again, yes this is no problem with Kyptonite – and this would have been an area thoroughly investigated before gaining approval for the pilot study. It is something that can be tested quite easily outside of patients and also in animal models.

Regarding if it is toxic, that is again something that would have been thoroughly investigated prior to launch of the pilot study. Kryptonite is not toxic to the body. In fact it has been used on some other bones in the past with great success – so that is significant comfort. The use in the sternum is, of course, quite different from fixing any other bones in the body (most of which can be immobilized much more effectively).

By: Adam Pick

Adam Pick — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:04:12 +0000

Hi Sheila,

Great questions. It looks like Dr. Fedak stops by this website every so often.

Hopefully, you’ll get some answers directly from the source!

All the best with your upcoming mitral valve replacement.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Keep on tickin!

Adam

By: Sheila

Sheila — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:45:31 +0000

I heard about Kryptonite from a friend re: CBC radio, the other day. I looked it up online and it sounded great – amazing really. I talked to my surgeon about using it for my upcoming mitral valve replacement surgery (it was postponed from Nov 5th to the 23rd due to my catching a bad cold prior to the original surgery date). The response I received from my surgeon was that it didn’t have any long-term studies done as yet so wiring the sternum is still the standard practice. Does Dr Fedak have any long-term studies re: what happens in there is a need to go back into the heart – how do you cut through the sternum after using this glue? Is it toxic to the body? Do patients with other health conditions, i.e. auto-immune diseases have any reactions to it? Does it create other health problems? It seems like such a great product and would be so amazing for healing – hope it is as great as it appears today in the long term.

Thanks,
Sheila

By: nancy mcgovern

nancy mcgovern — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:20:40 +0000

Sounds great – my husband is expecting to have bypass surgery at St Pauls’ Hospital in Vancouver BC in the near future. Do you know if Kryptonite is being used there? If not, when might we expect it to be introduced?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

By: Anony

Anony — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:31:41 +0000

I was listening to some of the coverage of this story and learned that there are 1.4M sternotomies (surgeries where the breast bone is opened up) across the globe each year. My understanding from hearing details of the patient impact that the procedure could easily shave days off each patient’s hospital stay. Conservatively, let’s say only one less day per patient and $1,000 per patient-hospital-day. Even at those underestimates, the procedure could shave $1.4B bottom line from the cost of health care around the globe. In reality it could be a lot more, including with fewer prescriptions. Amazing! Good on the Libin Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Calgary (www.LibinInstitute.org) – need more doctors, nurses and scientists working together to create real-world solutions. Good stuff Drs Fedak and King!!!