Medical
CA glue was in
veterinary use for mending bone, hide, and tortoise shell by the early 1970s or before. Harry Coover said in 1966 that a CA spray was used in the
Vietnam War to reduce bleeding in wounded soldiers until they could be brought to a hospital.
Butyl cyanoacrylate has been used medically since the 1970s. In the US, due to its potential to irritate the skin, the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not approve its use as a medical adhesive until 1998 with
Dermabond.
[9] Research has demonstrated the use of cyanoacrylate in wound closure as being safer and more functional than traditional
suturing (stitches).
[10] The adhesive has demonstrated superior performance in the time required to close a wound, incidence of infection (suture canals through the skin's epidermal, dermal, and subcutaneous fat layers introduce extra routes of contamination),
[10] and final cosmetic appearance.
[11][12]
Some
rock climbers use cyanoacrylate to repair damage to the skin on their fingertips.
[13][14] Glue covered fingertips do not leave fingerprints. Similarly, stringed-instrument players can form protective finger caps (in addition to calluses) with cyanoacrylates. While the glue is not very toxic and wears off quickly with shed skin, applying large quantities of glue and its fumes directly to the skin can cause chemical burns.
While standard "superglue" is 100% ethyl cyanoacrylate, many custom formulations (
e.g.,, 91% ECA, 9%
poly(methyl methacrylate), <0.5%
hydroquinone, and a small amount of organic
sulfonic acid[15] and variations on the compound N-butyl-cyanoacrylate's for medical applications
[10]) have come to be used for specific applications.
