Hemostatic materials in wound care

Abstract

Blood plays an essential role in the human body. Hemorrhage is a critical cause of both military and civilian casualties. The human body has its own hemostatic mechanism that involves complex processes and has limited capacity. However, in emergency situations such as battlefields and hospitals, when the hemostatic mechanism of the human body itself cannot stop bleeding effectively, hemostatic materials are needed for saving lives. In this review, the hemostatic mechanisms and performance of the most commonly used hemostatic materials, (including fibrin, collagen, zeolite, gelatin, alginate, chitosan, cellulose and cyanoacrylate) and the commercial wound dressings based on these materials, will be discussed. These materials may have limitations, such as poor tissue adhesion, risk of infection and exothermic reactions, that may lessen their hemostatic efficacy and cause secondary injuries. High-performance hemostatic materials, therefore, have been designed and developed to improve hemostatic efficiency in clinical use. In this review, hemostatic materials with advanced performances, such as antibacterial capacity, superhydrophobicity/superhydrophilicity, superelasticity, high porosity and/or biomimicry, will be introduced. Future prospects of hemostatic materials will also be discussed in this review.