Development of hemostatic wound dressing using silk

Abstract

Defence field and various other pharmacutical areas are facing the major problem of traumatic hemorrhage.  Hemostatic wound dressings help control traumatic external bleeding by enhancing or accelerating the natural clotting process through various physical reactions.  The fatal traumatic hemorrhage remains one of the most challenging problems for military people and other pharma areas .Hence the development of effective biocompatible hemostatic wound dressings that overcome these limitations is an absolute necessity. The hemostatic wound dressing with characteristics such as toxicity, biodegradability and less cost has to be developed. The goal of this research work is to develop hemostatic wound dressing with silk fibre for controlling the traumatic external bleeding. First, the silk fibers were treated with two kinds of neutral salts calcium nitrate tetra-hydrate (Ca(NO₃) ₂ 4H₂O) and calcium chloride systems in order to decrystallize their crystalline structure and improve their water absorbability and biodegradability. FTIR and X ray demonstrated that most effective decrystallization of silk fibers were performed with the treatment in Ca(NO₃)₂ 4H₂O. Next, the blood clotting ability of the treated silk fibers was investigated by blood coagulation test.