How do you glue

a broken bone?

©

Today in the operating room, a surgeon may ask for, "scalpel

clamp. ..glue." A new development in the field of orthopaedic

surgery has made it possible and practical to glue a broken

bone. A new plastic "glue" called Ostamer promises to

speed re-use of a fractured arm or leg and shorten the

patient's hospital stay. The glue is a strong polyurethane

foam that has been used to mend over 350 serious fractures

which needed reduction by surgery.

The ingredients wh ich form the " g l u e " can be steri l ized

and then mixed at the operating table. A n activator con­

taining al iphat ic tertiary amines is added in a predeter­

mined amount to the polyisocyanate prepolymer and well

mixed. The surgeon then has a " g l u e " ready to pour into

the space between the fractured bone.

The glue hardens quickly and in a few hours the pat ient

may move the repaired l imb. Pat ients have been up and

walking in two to seven days after having a broken leg

bone glued by a surgeon.

There is no toxic reaction to the plast ic wh ich is soon

replaced by new bone which grows around and through it.

Polyurethane foam is made from tolylene diisocyanate, a

derivative of toluene, one of the USS Chemicals. USS is a registered trademark

Ostamei' is a registered trademark of the Wm. S. Merreii Co. Division of Vick Chemical

Benzene · Toluene · Xylene · Phenol · Cresol · Cresylic Acid · Naphthalene • Creosote · Pitch « Pico/me · Pyridine · Ammonium Sulfate · Ammonium Nitrate · Anhydrous Ammonia · Nitric Acid

Chemicals

Sales offices in: Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago, Salt Lake City and Fairfield, Alabama.

The X-ray shows comminuted fractures of the distal shaft of the tibia and proximal fibula.