Surgical Glue Market Trends, Growth and Business Opportunities

With the increasing prevalence of acute and chronic diseases, surgery volume is increasing globally. Surgeries are conducted for therapeutic purposes, as well as diagnostic purposes (such as laparotomies). Moreover, many people go under the knife just for aesthetic purposes. All this is resulting in a rising requirement for a variety of tools and materials, such as scalpels, cautery, forceps, drills, bone saws, sutures, tissue staples, and surgical glue.

This is the reason P&S Intelligence forecasts that the surgical glue market will grow from $3,810.5 million in 2017 to $6,936.5 million by 2023, at a 10.6% CAGR between 2018 and 2023. Surgical glue is increasingly being preferred over sutures and staples because it causes less pain and scarring. Moreover, it reduces the hospital stay, thereby helping patients in cost saving, and allows them to return to their daily chores, office, or school quicker.

In this regard, the increasing appearance consciousness is propelling the demand for such materials in two ways. First, in order to look good, people are increasingly going for cosmetic procedures. As per the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), compared to 10,607,227 in 2018, 11,363,569 surgical aesthetic procedures were conducted around the world in 2019. Since they are performed for looking good, patients are preferring surgical glue over stitches and staplers, which are the two ways in which the growing cosmetic surgery volume is propelling surgical glue usage. 

Still, among cardiac, pulmonary, vascular, liver and spleen, orthopedic, plastic, neurological, general, eye, gynecological, and urological surgeries, wound management, and burn bleeding, cardiac surgeries consumed the highest volume of surgical glue in the past. This is because of the high volume of such procedures on account of the rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). They kill almost 18 million people every year, becoming the diseases with the highest mortality rate. 

There are various risk factors for heart diseases, including a fatty diet, lack of physical exercise, mental stress, tobacco and alcohol consumption, and genetic factors. Moreover, certain physical injuries harm the heart, such as severe accidents and gunshots. Another key factor that puts people at a risk of CVDs is age, with older people more likely to suffer from them. Hence, with the population of people 65 years and older set to increase to 1.5 billion by 2050 from 727 million in 2020, as per the United Nations (UN), cardiovascular surgeries are growing in volume, thus driving the demand for surgical glue.

As a result, biotech and medical device companies are engaging in research and development (R&D) to come up with advanced surgical glues. For instance, a group of researchers has reportedly created one such product utilizing proteins naturally found within the human body. The MeTro, short for methacryloyl-substituted tropoelastin, is a biocompatible surgical glue created from an elastic hydrogel sealant found in human tissues and designed to set via reaction to ultraviolet (UV) light. This squirtable glue can reportedly close a wound and seal off bleeding tissue in 60 seconds!

On account of such extensive R&D, North America is set to continue to be the leading surgical glue market in the coming years. The region is already home to a large number of hospitals, which is why the surgery volume is the highest here. Moreover, due to the strong financial situation of the majority of its residents, the plastic surgery volume is also increasing in the continent. Additionally, investments for the procurement of the latest medical devices and supplies are surging, thereby leading to the rising sale of surgical glue.

Hence, the demand for surgical glue will rise with the increasing volume of surgeries around the world.

Report this Page