Advancement in fabricating precision hemostats using nanocomposites and polymeric systems: From biofunctionality to...

The ever-increasing challenge of tackling traumatic injuries urges newer hemostatic technologies with rapid hemorrhagic control and improved wound healing to overcome the limitations of conventional gauze and dressings, used for emergency trauma control. With this aim, the current review focuses on nanocomposites, biopolymeric, and synthetic systems, as well as their complex combinations that incorporate different bioactive nanomaterials into either naturally derived or synthetic polymeric matrices. These nanoscale particles are providing an increased surface area for their bioactivity and improved drug-loading capacity. Additionally, advanced polymeric materials, such as hydrogels, gauzes, microspheres, nanofibers, sponges, and foams, are currently loaded with these nanoparticles to enhance their properties, including improved swellability, porosity, and adsorption. These advanced formulations primarily restrict blood flow by providing a physical barrier, followed by the absorption of platelets and RBCs onto their structural scaffold due to the modulation of their surface charge, imparted by various functional groups. Furthermore, highly porous matrices are known to absorb fluid and concentrate blood cells at the wound surface, inducing the formation of a firm and stable blood clot. Consequently, the nanoparticles released from the polymeric matrices induce several molecular effects to accelerate wound closure.