Alginate wound dressing, one of wound plaster dressing types, are extracted from precious natural brown seaweed. It is rich in guluronic acid and calcium ion, which form a moist gel through complete ion exchange of calcium-sodium ions. Meanwhile, due to the release of calcium ions, it acts as a coagulation factor to promote hemostasis and speed up the process. Bleeding is a major cause of early death after trauma. Early control of bleeding can improve the success rate of operations for severely injured patients, reduce the incidence of shock, and the mortality rate of patients, thus regarded as an effective strategy for prehospital rescue and a key link in military emergency medical rescue.
Gel-forming property: After the exchange of calcium ions in alginate wound dressing with sodium ions in the blood, a gel is formed, and the irregular surface of the gel plays a role in closing the wound and compressing to stop bleeding.
Water absorption and retention: There are many micropores in the alginic acid calcium fiber, which has a powerful ability to absorb and retain water, quickly absorbing more than 20 times its own weight of water and locking the water so that it does not spread to the periphery, thus increasing the concentration of blood platelets, fibrinogen, and red blood cells locally, which is conducive to the process of blood coagulation.
Structural characteristics: The dense, irregular network structure of alginic acid calcium fibers increases the contact area with blood and promotes coagulation. 4. Material characteristics: Made from pure natural plant materials, not synthetic materials, and does not cause rejection reactions in the body. The results of the test on cytotoxicity are graded as 0.
The rational hemostasis process involves vasoconstriction, platelet thrombus formation, and blood coagulation. Of these, vasoconstriction and platelet thrombus formation are primary hemostasis, and blood coagulation is secondary hemostasis. It can be seen that platelets play an important role in the process of hemostasis. Under normal physiological conditions, platelets do not adhere or aggregate. However, once activated, platelets can adhere under the endothelium of injured blood vessels, forming a thrombus, blocking the wound, maintaining the integrity of the capillary wall, and releasing various factors related to blood clotting. At the same time, activated platelets release substances such as ADP and TⅪ, which further promote platelet activation, causing positive feedback. CD62P is a surface glycoprotein on platelets, expressed very little in resting platelets, and rapidly distributed on platelet membranes after activation by alpha granules. It is a specific molecular marker for platelet activation.
In summary, alginate wound dressing can promote coagulation by releasing calcium ions, inducing red blood cell aggregation and deformation, and activating platelets. In addition, its special physical properties also play an important role in the process of hemostasis. Therefore, alginate wound dressing are ideal hemostatic materials and have high application value in the field of surgical hemostasis.