Necklace-Structured PVA Sponges for Fast Bleeding Control in the Punctured Femoral Artery Hemorrhage.

Abstract

Uncontrollable hemorrhage from deep, narrow wounds poses a critical threat to life, as locating the bleeding arteries in such areas is challenging. Rapid bleeding control remains a significant challenge in pre-hospital care. Herein, an injectable hemostatic device filled with disc-like PVA sponges is developed for this objective. The pristine PVA sponge is strung as a necklace-structured sponge loaded in a foldable injector. With a novel retraction mechanism, this self-designed injector precisely deploys hemostatic sponges to deep bleeding sites, surpassing the XStat^TM injector in design innovation. The PVA sponges' high porosity and unique porous structure allowed it for rapid shape recovery (<30 s) and good compressive strength. In the punctured wound, the swollen PVA sponges exert high compression to close the bleeding artery, resulting in fast-bleeding control. In the pig groin femoral artery injury model, the PVA sponge treatment resulted in a 100% survival rate during a 2-h hemostasis period, compared to a 33.3% survival rate in the cotton gauze control group. In addition, it can be easily taken out by a simple pulling. The easily applicable and removable necklace-structured PVA sponge is a highly promising hemostat for punctured wounds.