Bone Wax in Neurosurgery: A Review

World Neurosurgery
Joe M Das

Abstract

It has been 125 years since the so-called initial use of bone wax (BW) by Sir Victor Horsley, and a review of this age-old hemostatic agent seems appropriate. The first use of BW for hemostasis occurred in the eighteenth century, when modeling or candle wax was used for hemostasis. Although the pioneers in the use of BW in craniofacial surgeries were Jean Louis Belloq, Khristian Khristianovich Salomon, and François Magendie, the first successful use in neurosurgery was demonstrated by Henri Ferdinand Dolbeau in 1864 after extirpation of a frontal osteoma. This technique was further popularized by Sir Victor Alexander Haden Horsley, the father of British neurosurgery, who is often incorrectly mentioned as the inventor of BW. Originally derived from beeswax, the currently available commercial preparation also contains paraffin wax and isopropyl palmitate. The main action being mechanical tamponade, BW has found several other uses in neurosurgery, other than being a hemostatic agent. Although it is cost-effective, the use of BW is associated with several complications also, including ineffective bone healing and infection. Several alternatives are being developed, but none are yet a full replacement for "Horsley's wax."

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Citations

Aug 2, 2018·Biomedical Materials·Weijing CaoZhenning Wu
Jul 7, 2020·Operative Neurosurgery·Vinicius Trindade Gomes da Silva, Eberval Gadelha Figueiredo
Sep 2, 2020·The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery·Leopoldo Mandic Ferreira FurtadoAndre Ribeiro Dos Santos
Jan 28, 2021·ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering·Feifei YanLin Cai
Apr 13, 2021·Journal of Stomatology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery·Sho ObataHidenori Inohara
Jun 14, 2021·Journal of Clinical Neuroscience : Official Journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia·Giuseppe Roberto GiammalvaRosario Maugeri
Nov 5, 2021·Neurosurgical Review·C SchonauerE Tessitore

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