Effective control of massive venous bleeding by "multioverlapping therapy" using polysaccharide nanosheets in a rabbit inferior vena cava injury model.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of multioverlapping therapy using a polysaccharide nanosheet having 75-nm thickness for sealing and stopping massive venous hemorrhage.

Methods: The hydrostatic durability of the polysaccharide nanosheet was evaluated in vitro when secured to an incised silicon tube. For in vivo studies, the inferior vena cava (IVC) of rabbits was cut longitudinally, and multiple polysaccharide nanosheets were overlapped onto the injured IVC.

Results: The mechanical hydrostatic durability of the nanosheets was gradually augmented by an increasing number of multilayered nanosheets in vitro. This durability was saturated at 80 ± 6 mm Hg by four layers of nanosheets, which was robust enough to seal injured vessel walls of the large IVC. Multioverlapping therapy using nanosheets effectively sealed and stopped bleeding from the injured IVC in vivo. One month later, no inflammatory tissue response was observed around the nanosheet attachment sites of the IVC, while conventional suturing repair in control rabbits showed a severe inflammatory response around the sutured area.

Conclusions: The multioverlapping therapy using the polysaccharide nanosheets will effectively stop massive venous bleeding without adverse effects in the immediate or chronic postoperative setting.