Anti-swelling polysaccharide-based cryogel sponge with rich positive charge for non-compressive hemostasis and wound...

Internal bleeding has always been a major cause of human death in clinical or battlefield settings. In this study, a cryogel sponge was prepared by freezing method, it can effectively stop bleeding by concentrating blood, efficiently adsorbing red blood cells and platelets. Cryogels have excellent anti-swelling performance and avoid the problem of further wound expansion caused by swelling. Hyaluronic acid and hydroxypropyl chitosan are the main bodies of cryogel, and dopamine is grafted onto the side chain of hyaluronic acid through a one pot method to cope with oxidative stress and shorten the process flow. Quaternary chitosan is intercalated into the polymer network and provides abundant positive charges. Cryogel shows high positive electricity in acidic environment (17.10 mV, pH = 5.0), which benefits cryogel to adsorb red blood cells and platelets and to resist bacterial infection. On this basis, bioactive glass is added into the cryogel to further promote coagulation and wound healing. Cryogel can be repeatedly compressed (40.3 kPa) and significantly reduce the amount of bleeding, resulting in an 81.9 % decrease in the amount of bleeding compared with blank group in vivo hemostasis experiment. Moreover, cryogel could effectively inhibit inflammatory reaction and promote wound healing.