Covidien Ltd./Tyco Healthcare (Covidien) has launched the first US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved DuraSeal spine sealant for intra-operative sealing of the dural membrane during spine procedures.

In a clinical study of more than 150 patients, DuraSeal spine sealant was shown to be superior at achieving an intra-operative watertight seal, compared with the control group, which consisted of conventional methods of dural closure such as sutures or fibrin sealants. DuraSeal spine sealant achieved an intra-operative watertight seal 100% of the time, compared with 64% of the time by the control group. The safety results between the two groups were similar, given the patient’s medical conditions and the nature of the complex spinal procedures performed.

The new sealant is a 100% synthetic hydrogel that provides tissue adherence, is absorbed by the body and is easy to apply. Stored at room temperature, DuraSeal spine sealant takes only two minutes to prepare and three seconds to set, which enables surgeons to achieve an intra-operative dural seal quickly.

“DuraSeal is a great example of how we develop solutions at Covidien,” said Dr. Michael Tarnoff, Chief Medical Affairs Officer, Surgical Devices, Covidien. “We observe the challenges that surgeons face in the operating room and work with the medical community to come up with innovative products that may optimize patient outcomes, can improve healthcare economics and are intuitive for surgeons and their teams to use.”

The DuraSeal spine sealant system was introduced at the North American Spine Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco and last month at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in New Orleans.