Bespoke GelFoam Wafers: A Practical and Inexpensive Alternative to Oxycel for Hemostasis during Neurosurgery

Since the beginning of neurosurgery, intraoperative parenchymal bleeding has been a major problem. Achievement of hemostasis is the endpoint of any cranial or spinal neurosurgical exercise and is mandatory to avoid postoperative hematomas which mar the ultimate outcome of the surgery. Several biosurgical agents are used to achieve this goal. Agents such as oxidized cellulose, gelatin foam, fibrillar collagen, fibrin sealants, and antifibrinolytic agents are used, each having a different mechanism of action.

The authors describe a simple technique for substituting oxidized regenerated cellulose (Surgicel) for lining the surgical cavities after excising brain lesions, with customized gelfoam wafers fashioned on the surgical trolley. This has been used in over 8000 cases with excellent hemostatic results over the last 25 years. No complications are noted with use of these wafers.

In a randomized trial done by us, similar hemostatic effect was found between oxycel and the gelfoam wafers described by us with satisfactory outcomes of surgeries. No previous use of such custom-fashioned wafers has been described for neurosurgical hemostasis in the literature.