Hemostatic Comparison of a Polysaccharide Powder and a Gelatin Powder

Purpose/Aim: Powdered hemostats have been widely adopted for their ease-of-use; however, their efficacy has been limited resulting in applications restricted to low-level bleeds. This study investigates the use of bovine-derived gelatin particles (BGP) as a standalone hemostatic powder and compare BGP to commercially available microporous polysaccharide hemospheres (MPH). Materials and Methods: The powders were investigated for their hemostatic efficacy in a heparinized pre-clinical bleeding model limited to grade 1 and 2 bleeds on a validated intraoperative bleeding scale, which represents the accepted, clinical use of hemostatic powders. Results: At 10 minutes, the hemostatic success of lesions treated with BGP were 78% while MPH were 22%. The odds ratio for hemostatic success of BGP relative to MPH was 15.18 (95% CI: 7.37, 31.27). The 95% lower limit of the odds ratio was greater than 1. This indicates that BGP are superior to MPH (p < 0.001). The median time to hemostasis for BGP was 1.6 minutes and MPH was 14.5 minutes. The ratio for time to hemostasis of MPH relative to BGP was 9.23 (95% CI: 6.99, 12.19). This indicates that BGP achieve significantly faster time to hemostasis (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Characterization of tissue explant ultrastructure, particle size, and swelling revealed differences in the materials. BGP, in addition to absorbing fluid and concentrating clotting factors and platelets, integrate into the clot and stabilize the fibrin matrix. BGP have advantages over MPH in terms of speed and efficacy. BGP are a favorable biomaterial for further research that greatly improve the limited efficacy of powdered hemostats.