Super glue: It's holding us together these days

Surgeons routinely use Dermabond in "tummy tuck" surgery or Caesarean section baby delivery, to close incisions that might run from hip to hip, Shatkin says. The surgeon uses absorbable sutures in the flesh beneath the skin to hold the area together, then applies Dermabond to close up the skin, avoiding stitch-mark scars. It's waterproof, so it needs no bandages.

"The patient can shower the next day," he said. The Dermabond usually peels away within 10 days, eliminating a return visit for suture removal.

Another use of Dermabond is for athletes with bleeding cuts who must come out of the game until the bleeding stops. Dermabond forms a seal in less than three minutes, Shatkin says. It's the "Official Wound Closure Product" of the U.S. Olympic Team.

Dermabond was approved by the FDA in 1998, but many surgeons needed experience with it before trusting it in their practices.

"I've been using it for about five years," Shatkin says.

Evicel: This sealant is an elastic, insoluble protein derived from human plasma that forms an interlacing fibrous network when it comes in contact with blood.

It helps repair a hernia, which occurs when the muscles of the lower abdomen and groin have a hole that lets portions of the intestines bulge out. It helps doctors repair the hole from the inside, by laparoscopic surgery through the belly button.

Doctors go through the navel with an inflatable balloon device that creates a space inside the body behind the hole and install a thin polypropylene mesh over the hole.

They then spray the Evicel onto the back of the mesh, inside the body. It hardens — clots, actually — and fixes the mesh into place. This speeds the procedure by avoiding use of staples or stitches that would have to be removed later. "It's like patching a tire from the inside," says Dr. Anthony Gonzalez, chief of laparoscopic surgery at Baptist.

Bone cement I: Chemically it's a polymethylmethacrylate, made by several manufacturers. In nonmedical use it's called Plexiglas or Lucite — the strong, clear material used around hockey rinks to keep fans from being hit by flying pucks.

Mount Sinai Hospital orthopedic surgeon Dr. Marc Umlas uses it in total replacement of knees deteriorated by osteoarthritis. He removes the deteriorated bone and attaches the new prosthetic metal joint to the remaining bone with the bone cement.

The cement isn't sticky in itself, Umlas says. It attaches the new metal joint to the bone the way builder's grout holds bricks together, since both the bone and the new metal joint are somewhat porous.

"We owe this to dentists," Umlas says. "You know the temporary crown you get while the permanent one is being made? That