Research shows promise of Hemostatic Tough Adhesives in sealing tissue and controlling hemorrhage

Uncontrolled bleeding causes roughly 40% of trauma-related deaths and drives significant surgical morbidity – extending hospital stays by an average of six days and adding costs exceeding $17,000 per case in some specialties. Yet, existing hemostatic adjuncts frequently fail to provide consistent and effective bleeding control, and hemorrhage from internal organs remains a critical challenge in both trauma care and surgical procedures.

Kyle Wu, MD, assistant professor of Neurological Surgery in The Ohio State University College of Medicine, is co-first author of a study that examined hemorrhage occurring under conditions of either active bleeding or impaired coagulation. Wu collaborated with colleagues at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Boston Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital to develop and evaluate Hemostatic Tough Adhesives (HTA) in controlled preclinical models of traumatic solid organ injury, comparing its performance against leading commercially available hemostatic agents.

Their recent study, titled, “Hemostatic Tough Adhesives Seal Tissue and Control Hemorrhage,” shows that the HTA system they developed is a promising candidate, both for treating hemorrhage from internal organs and as a utility for surgical and trauma-related bleeding management. Recently published in Nature Communications, the key findings include: 

• HTA consistently outperformed its counterparts, achieving 100% hemostasis in both liver and spleen injuries within an in vivo preclinical porcine model, while commercially available agents demonstrated variable and often incomplete efficacy.
• Beyond immediate hemostasis, the HTA demonstrated prolonged stability and biocompatibility during the postoperative wound healing phase – remaining attached and intact on organ surfaces for at least two weeks post-implantation.
• Compared to commercially available surgical hemostatic adjuncts, HTA demonstrated significantly higher resistance to failure during burst pressure and tensile testing and exhibited tissue surface adhesion energy 400 to 2,400 times greater than existing hemostatic products.
• HTA achieved effective hemostasis under both normal and anticoagulated (heparinized) conditions, indicating potential utility in patients with trauma-induced coagulopathy, inherited bleeding disorders or those receiving blood thinners – scenarios where conventional hemostats frequently fail.
• HTA’s transparency allows surgeons to visualize the underlying tissue through the material, directly confirming hemostatic success – a clinical advantage over opaque competing products. Its tunable working time also gives users the flexibility to position and adjust the patch before adhesion is complete, unlike agents that set rapidly and allow no repositioning.

Successful hemostasis occurs when there’s no visual, active blood loss from an injury site during the two-minute post-application time interval. The results position HTA as a potentially transformative hemostatic tool for use in operating rooms and trauma settings across the country.