Hemorrhage occurring during and after surgery still remains one of the biggest problems in medicine. Although a large number of hemostatic products have been created, there is no universal preparation; thus, the development of new materials is an urgent task. The aim of this research is to increase hemostatic properties of chitosan by introducing chitin nanofibrils (ChNF). The blood absorbance by ChNF-containing chitosan sponges and time-until-arrest of bleeding were studied. Non-woven materials containing 0.5% of ChNF and materials without chitin were obtained. The studies of ζ-potential showed that the material containing 0.5% ChNF had relatively a high positive charge, but efficiencies of both materials for hemorrhage arrest were comparable to those of commercial hemostatic products (Surgicel and TachoComb). To investigate the interaction between the materials and living organism, histological studies and optical microscopy studies were conducted after implantation of fibers. Despite bioinertness of fibers, implantation of non-woven materials led to formation of significant granulomas.
Composite chitosan fibers filled with chitin nanofibrils (CNF) were obtained by the wet spinning method. The paper discusses the mechanical properties of such type fibers and their hemocompatibility, as well as the possibility of optimizing these properties by adding chitin nanofibrils. It was shown that low CNF concentration (about 0.5%) leads to an increase in fiber tensile strength due to the additional orientation of chitosan macromolecules. At the same time, with an increase in the content of CNF, the stability of the mechanical properties of composite fibers in a humid medium increases. All chitosan fibers, except 0.5% CNF, showed good hemocompatibility, even on prolonged contact with human blood. The addition of chitin nanofibers leads to decrease in hemoglobin molecules sorption due to the decline in optical density at wavelengths of 414 nm and 540 nm. Nevertheless, the hemolysis of fibers was comparable or even lesser that carbon hemosorbent, which is actively used in clinical practice.
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