Injectable, Antibacterial, and Hemostatic Tissue Sealant Hydrogels.

Hemorrhage and bacterial infections are major hurdles in the management of life-threatening surgical wounds. Most bioadhesives for wound closure lack sufficient hemostatic and antibacterial properties. Furthermore, they suffer from weak sealing efficacy, particularly for stretchable organs, such as the lung and bladder. Accordingly, there is an unmet need for mechanically robust hemostatic sealants with simultaneous antibacterial effects. Here, we nanoengineer an injectable, photocrosslinkable, and stretchable hydrogel sealant based on gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA), supplemented with antibacterial zinc ferrite (ZF) nanoparticles and hemostatic silicate nanoplatelets (SNs) for rapid blood coagulation. The hydrogel reduced the in vitro viability of Staphylococcus aureus by more than 90%. The addition of SNs (2% w/v) and ZF nanoparticles (1.5 mg mL -1 ) to GelMA (20% w/v) improved the burst pressure of perforated ex vivo porcine lungs by more than 40%. Such enhancement translated to ∼250% improvement in the tissue sealing capability compared with a commercial hemostatic sealant, Evicel ® . Furthermore, the hydrogels reduced bleeding by ∼50% in rat bleeding models. The nanoengineered hydrogel may open new translational opportunities for the effective sealing of complex wounds that require mechanical flexibility, infection management, and hemostasis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.