Effect of photocrosslinkable chitosan hydrogel and its sponges to stop bleeding in a rat liver injury model.

This study examined the hemostatic efficacy of photocrosslinkable chitosan hydrogel-mixed photocrosslinked chitosan sponges (PCM-S) after hepatic injury in rats. The left lobe of the liver was penetrated with a dermal punch to produce a penetrating wound in heparinized and nonheparinized rats. Treated rats either had PCM-S applied into the wound and then were immediately ultraviolet irradiated, or they had TachoComb (TC) inserted into the wound. Blood loss, hemostasis, and survival were quantified after the hepatic injury. Measurements on serum alanine aminotransferase in nonheparinized rats and hemoglobin concentrations and histologic examinations in heparinized rats were performed to assess hepatic function. Although the hemostatic effect in the PCM-S-treated nonheparinized rats was identical to that of the TC-treated group, PCM-S-treatment has higher hemostatic effect in heparinized rats. No adverse events related to the use of PCM-S were detected in blood and histologic examinations.