The Multifunctional Antioxidant Self-Healing Hydrogel for Rapid Hemostasis and Abdominal Aorta Wound Healing

Uncontrolled arterial bleeding and wound infection following severe trauma pose significant challenges to existing tissue adhesives. This study developed an injectable hydrogel based on ε-polylysine, carboxymethyl chitosan, and oxidized dextran (DECG) to address the deficiencies of current materials. This hydrogel not only possesses rapid and strong adhesion and self-healing properties by incorporating basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) but also demonstrates excellent porosity (30 μm), biocompatibility, antioxidant properties, and antibacterial performance. Additionally, the adhesive strength of the hydrogel reached 0.627 MPa, capable of withstanding pressures of 657.6 ± 18.71 mmHg. The hydrogel transitions from a liquid to a solid state within just 10 s. More importantly, this study used the rat abdominal aorta as an in vivo hemostasis model, clearly confirming that the DECG hydrogel can effectively prevent fatal noncompressible hemorrhage in the rat abdominal aorta injury model. Further investigations revealed that the DECG hydrogel also promoted the high expression of COL-1, CD31, VEGF, α-SMA, and PCNA, improving arterial wound healing and reducing the occurrence of aneurysms. Overall, the meticulously developed DECG hydrogel in this study demonstrates outstanding performance, precisely meeting the urgent demands of clinical applications and showing promising clinical prospects in controlling difficult bleeding situations and promoting the healing of challenging infectious wounds.