Chitosan-bound carboxymethylated cotton fabric and its application as wound dressing

Cotton fabric (CF) is commonly used in wound treatment, however, its hemostatic efficiency is far from sufficient. In this study, modified cotton fabric (MCF-0.39) was obtained by a carboxymethylation process, which endowed MCF-0.39 with good swelling ability and water absorption capacity. Chitosan (CHI) was bound to MCF-0.39 by the binder sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) via flat-screen printing technique to prepare the hybrid hemostatic material (CHI-MCF-0.39). The blood clotting index (BCI) of CHI-MCF-0.39 was 3.15-fold lower than that of CF, demonstrating the good clotting ability of the material. In rat liver injury and femoral artery animal model, the groups using CHI-MCF-0.39 had less hemostasis time and blood loss compared with those groups using CF. All the above results indicate that the prepared CHI-MCF-0.39 has promising future applications as effective hemostatic material in trauma treatment.