Thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) to fabricate chitosan/pectin based absorbent macroporous sponge with...

Uncontrolled bleeding is one of the major causes of death in military and civilian trauma. Hence, designing a hemostatic agent that ensures safety, quality, and efficiency to stop bleeding is a challenging research area. Although many commercial agents focus on instant blood clotting, the issue of intrinsic coagulation followed by blood clot stabilization is ignored. In this study, a series of chitosan/pectin-based hemostatic sponge samples were prepared by cost-efficient freeze gelation method that utilized the principle of thermally induced phase separation (TIPS). The incorporation of pectin significantly improved the swelling and mechanical property of the sponge, where p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively. This chitosan/pectin based sponge was further incorporated with calcium chloride and an antifibrinolytic agent, tranexamic acid for enhanced functional properties, such as blood clot stabilization and intrinsic coagulation. Furthermore, several morphological, physicochemical, in vitro and in vivo characterizations were performed to analyze the efficacy of the sponge. It was observed that the prepared sample was highly absorbent, macroporous with numerous larger pores, possessed a high porosity and robust mechanical strength. The sponge also aggregated numerous RBCs and platelets to promote hemostasis. Also, the in vitro blood clotting efficiency was found significantly better than commercial product. In case of rat tail experiment, the prepared sample incorporated hemostasis ~10 s and ~ 20 s earlier than commercial Celox (powder) and Medisponge (sponge), respectively. Moreover, the prepared sponge showed moderate wound healing and intrinsic coagulation effect. Therefore, the prepared hemostatic sponge has a remarkable potential to prevent excessive blood loss.