Advances in adhesive hydrogels for tissue engineering

Traumas in vivo caused by emergencies (e.g., car accidents, surgery or battlefields) probably cause uncontrollable bleeding and even threaten the patients’ lives. Traditional wound closure methods (e.g., sutures and staples) have problems such as poor sealing. Commercially available medical adhesives, including cyanoacrylates and fibrin glue, have insufficient wet adhesion and poor mechanical properties, which limit their clinical application. Nowadays, adhesive hydrogels as emerging biomedical materials for tissue engineering have attracted much attention in replacing or assisting traditional treatment methods. Hemostatic agents, sealants, tissue adhesives, wound dressing, drug carriers, etc., are potential applications of adhesive hydrogels. The development of hydrogels with excellent adhesion, biocompatibility, flexibility, degradability, and antibacterial properties in vivo is significant to advances in tissue engineering. At present, a variety of hydrogel systems based on natural polysaccharides, adhesive proteins or artificial polymers have been extensively researched and perform well in animal experiments in vivo. Continuous improvements in adhesive hydrogels will bring more possibilities for trauma therapy in vivo.