Efficient, biosafe and tissue adhesive hemostatic cotton gauze with controlled balance of hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity

Cotton gauze is widely used as haemostatic material for bleeding control, but its high blood absorption capacity can to cause extra blood loss. Here, the authors develop a cotton gauze whose surface is modified with a catechol compound featuring a flexible long hydrophobic alkyl chain which demonstrates excellent haemostatic performance. Cotton gauze is a widely used topical hemostatic material for bleeding control, but its high blood absorption capacity tends to cause extra blood loss. Therefore, development of rapid hemostatic cotton gauze with less blood loss is of great significance. Here, we develop an efficient hemostatic cotton gauze whose surface is slightly modified with a catechol compound which features a flexible long hydrophobic alkyl chain terminated with a catechol group. Its hemostatic performance in animal injuries is superior to standard cotton gauze and Combat Gauze(TM). Its biosafety is similar to cotton gauze and rebleeding hardly occurs when the gauze is removed. Here, we show its hemostatic capability is attributable to the rapid formation of big and thick primary erythrocyte clots, due to its effective controlling of blood movement through blocking effect from tissue adhesion by catechol, blood wicking in cotton, and the hydrophobic effect from long alkyl chains.

Automated summary

The authors develop a modified cotton gauze with a catechol compound featuring a flexible long hydrophobic alkyl chain, which shows excellent hemostatic performance.