Hemoadhican-Based Bioabsorbable Hydrogel for Preventing Postoperative Adhesions

Abstract

Postoperative peritoneal adhesions are a prevalent clinical issue following abdominal and pelvic surgery, frequently resulting in heightened personal and societal health burdens. Traditional biomedical barriers offer limited benefits because of practical challenges for doctors and their incompatibility with laparoscopic surgery. Hydrogel materials, represented by hyaluronic acid gels, are receiving increasing attention. However, existing antiadhesive gels still have limited effectiveness or carry the risk of complications in clinical applications. Herein, we developed a novel hydrogel using polysaccharide hemoadhican (HD) as the base material and polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (PEGDE) as the cross-linking agent. The HD hydrogels exhibit appropriate mechanical properties, injectability, and excellent cytocompatibility. We demonstrate resistance to protein adsorption and L929 fibroblast cell adhesion to the HD hydrogel. The biodegradability and efficacy against peritoneal adhesion are further evaluated in C57BL/6 mice. Our results suggest a potential strategy for antipostoperative tissue adhesion barrier biomaterials.