Fibrin plays a central role in wound healing. It has a hemostatic effect by forming a temporary wound closure and assists in neovascularization and fibroblast prolifera tion. It therefore makes the repair of injured or severed parts of the human body by simple glueing possible, a notion that men have dreamed of since ancient times. The first modern attempts in this direction, using clotting substances derived from human blood to achieve hemostasis, were reported by Bergel (in 1909), Grey (in 1915), and Harvey (in 1916), who used fibrin powder or fibrin patches to control bleeding from...

The continued high mortality (up to 70 %) in patients with necro tizing pancreatitis and diffuse peritonitis has led to the develop ment of various surgical strategies within the past few decades. Up to the present decisions about the management of these disea ses have been rather difficult because of the individual courses differ considerably, even being incomparable. Today, as a result of our in creased knowledge of the pathophysiology, the impro ved imaging procedures, and the standaridized intensive care, the rend is moving toward delayed surgical intervention. The goals in the surgical...