Novel chitosan/gelatin/oxidized cellulose sponges as absorbable hemostatic agents

Chitosan/gelatin (CG) composite sponges containing oxidized cellulose fibers (OF) crosslinked with tannic acid were fabricated by freeze-drying as hemostatic agents. The cellulose fibers were oxidized by 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy proved the formation of carboxyl groups on cellulose fibers. Addition of  OF increased the swelling ratio of CG sponges. The amount of bleeding was measured after 10 s on hepatic trauma in a rat model. To assess the in vivo bio-absorbability of the samples, the sponges were implanted in the liver for 21 days and the volume of the repaired tissue was measured from histopathological analysis. The biocomposite sponge fabricated by addition of 30% OF suspension into CG solution showed the lowest amount of bleeding and the highest bio-absorbability after 21 days. The findings of this study indicate that the addition of OF into CG increased the clotting capability as well as the bio-absorbability of the biocomposite sponges.