Oxidised regenerated cellulose: an effective emergency haemostatic in burns surgery

A 26-year-old man with 40% full-thickness burns was treated by excision and split-skin grafting on the 7th post-burn day. He developed bleeding 1 hour post-operatively which persisted despite the use of pressure dressings, elevation of the limbs, the administration of fresh frozen plasma, platelet-rich plasma, calcium, whole blood and cryoprecipitate respectively over a period of 11 hours. The bleeding was finally controlled under general anaesthesia by clot removal, bipolar electro-coagulation of miniscule oozing points, replacement of the meshed skin graft and the application of a layer of oxidised regenerated cellulose over the grafted area. The properties and uses of oxidised regenerated cellulose are outlined.