Freeze-dried plasma: Hemostasis and biophysical analyses for damage control resuscitation

Effective hemorrhage protocols prioritize immediate hemostatic resuscitation to manage hemorrhagic shock. Prehospital resuscitation using blood products, such as whole blood or alternatively dried plasma in its absence, has the potential to improve outcomes in hemorrhagic shock patients. However, integrating blood products into prehospital care poses substantial logistical challenges due to issues with storage, transport, and administration in field environments.

We utilized hemostatic assays and advanced biophysical techniques, such as calorimetry, infrared spectoscopy, dynamic light scattering, and biolayer interferometry, to compare the functional and structural properties of freeze-dried plasma (FDP; OctaplasLG Powder, Octapharma AB) with those of fresh plasma controls.

Hemostatic characterization of FDP revealed that clot formation properties and coagulation parameters were largely comparable to fresh plasma controls, with some variations observed in Von Willebrand factor-ADAMTS13 axis and fibrinolysis. No change to moisture content of FDP (~1% water content) was observed after 6-month storage at ambient conditions. Biophysical analyses of FDP during transfusion demonstrated spontaneous exothermic mixing of FDP in plasma, a dilution effect from saline, as well as comparable stability to plasma controls. Quantification of ligand-binding affinities of platelet receptors activated GPIIbIIIa and GPIbα showed comparable binding properties to plasma controls.

Our results show that FDP exhibits hemostatic functionality and protein stability on par with fresh plasma, as assessed by novel, highly sensitive techniques. FDP therefore represents a viable alternative to conventional plasma in damage control resuscitation, offering significant logistical and storage advantages for prehospital and remote applications, especially in scenarios where whole blood is unavailable.