Hemostatic, antibacterial and degradable performance of the water-soluble chitosan-coated oxidized regenerated cellulose gauze

In this research, the oxidized regenerated cellulose (ORC) gauze was prepared by oxidation of regenerated cellulose using NO₂/CCl₄, subsequently treated with the dissolved chitosan (CTS) in aqueous acetic acid (CTS/ORC) and finally neutralized with NaOH/C₂H₅OH (CTS/ORC-Na). The hemostatic, antibacterial and degradable properties of treated ORC-based gauze were evaluated. The results of the hemostatic test on rabbit liver and ear-artery injuries showed that the attachment of high molecular weight chitosan to the surface of ORC gauze significantly improved the hemostatic effect of ORC without compromising the antibacterial and degradability of ORC. It is found that the water-soluble CTS/ORC-Na gauze was more suitable as the hemostatic material applied in rabbit liver injury in comparison with in ear-artery injury and it further improved the hemostatic efficacy and enhanced the degradable rate. It is promised that the CTS/ORC gauze and the water-soluble CTS/ORC-Na gauze would be applicable in medical fields such as surgical absorbable hemostats for control bleeding.