Sea Cucumber-Inspired Aerogel for Ultrafast Hemostasis of Open Fracture

The symptomatic management of hemorrhagic shock complicated by open fractures is a great challenge, because it is also complicated by complex wound bleeding, bacterial infection, and bone defects. Inspired by the water absorption and cross-sectional microstructure of sea cucumbers, in this study, a new sea cucumber-like aerogel (GCG) is proposed. Its aligned porous structure and composition can stop bleeding rapidly and effectively with a blood clotting index of 3.73 ± 1.8%. More importantly, the data of in vivo hemostasis test in an amputating rat tail hemostatic model (15.69 ± 2.45 s, 26.95 ± 8.43 mg) and liver puncture bleeding model (23.77 ± 2.68 s, 36.22 ± 16.92 mg) also indicate the excellent hemostatic performance of GCG. In addition, GCG also shows a significant inhibitory effect on S. aureus and E. coli, which can prevent the occurrence of postoperative osteomyelitis. Not only that, after filling in the bone defect, it is shown that this GCG aerogel completely degrades eight weeks after surgery and induces new bone ingrowth, achieving functional regeneration after hemostasis of an open fracture defect. Generally, because of its combination of hemostatic, antibacterial, and osteogenic activities, this new aerogel is a promising option for open fractures treatment.