An In Situ UV Cross-Linking Asymmetric Adhesive Hydrogel for Noncompressible Hemostasis and Postoperative Adhesion Prevention

ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2024 Dec 7. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.4c01472. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Noncompressible hemorrhage control is vital for clinical outcome after surgical treatment and prehospital trauma injuries. Meanwhile, wound bleeding and tissue damage could induce postoperative adhesions, leading to a severe threat to the health of patients. Considerable research had been conducted on the development of hemostatic and antiadhesive materials. However, it was still a great challenge to realize hemostasis and antiadhesion simultaneously especially in inaccessible and irregular wound sites. In this study, a kind of fluid hemostatic agent composed of gelatin methacryloyl/sulfobetaine methacrylate/oxidized konjac glucomannan (termed GOS) was developed, which spread immediately upon contacting the hepatic trauma surface and turned into hydrogels under UV radiation within 5 s, resulting in rapid hemostasis and firm adhesion to tissues (shear strength 486.08 kPa). Importantly, the surface of the as-formed GOS hydrogel exhibited lubricious and nonadhesive properties, exhibiting excellent anti-postoperative adhesion performance in a rat liver hemostasis model and a rat abdominal wall-cecum adhesion model. In addition, the GOS hydrogel reduced the postoperative secretion of inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-6, facilitating the tissue repair. Therefore, the asymmetrical adhesive GOS hydrogel could fulfill the requirements for simultaneously rapid hemostasis, tissue adhesion, and subsequent excellent antiadhesion, which demonstrated significant potential for diverse clinical surgical operation scenarios.

Keywords: asymmetrical adhesive; hemostasis; in situ curing; post operative antiadhesion; zwitterionic hydrogel.