The use of ethyl-cyanoacrylate and octyl-cyanoacrylate were clinically and histopathologically compared on the corneas of 36 rabbits after lamellar keratectomy (standardized diameter and depth). The animals were distributed into two groups, one for each type of adhesive. From each group, six subgroups were histopathologically evaluated on the 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st, 30th, and 60th day post-operative. General (daily) and ophthalmic (days 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 21, 30, 44, and 60) evaluations clinically indicated that there were significant differences for the variables water intake, attitude, blepharitis, corneal edema, and fluorescein test. The adhesive permanence time for octyl-cyanoacrylate (17.22 days) was greater than that for ethyl-cyanoacrylate (7.66 days). With respect to the histopathological evaluation, corneal epithelization and collagen organization occurred without severe complications. However, treatment with ethyl-cyanoacrylate led to a moderate inflammatory reaction in the initial phases. With octyl-cyanoacrylate, re-epithelization and collagen organization proceeded more slowly with a discrete inflammatory reaction in the initial phases. From clinical and histopathologic points of view, octyl-cyanoacrylate showed advantages over ethyl-cyanoacrylate, whereas wound healing was achieved in both groups without major complications.
rabbit; cornea; cyanoacrylate
