Effectiveness of the sodium alginate as surgical sealant materials

Abstract

Developing biocompatible tissue adhesives is a highly desired goal of the tissue engineering due to adverse effects of the sutures. Sodium alginate is a natural linear polysaccharide and has biocompatibility, non-toxicity, non-immunogenicity, biodegradability, antimicrobial activity, and can be simply gelled with divalent cations and used in a number of biomedical applications. So, in this study, we use simple Na-alginate solution as surgical sealant for wound close. We prepared 0.3% (w/w) alginate hydrogel solution and in vivo and in vitro experiment was carried out. Surgical incision along with bleeding was made on mouse dorsal surface and then closed the wound using either alginate solution or traditional suture materials. After 1 week and 2 weeks we found that alginate sample effectively sealed the bleeding wound and promote tissue regeneration without the aid of other surgical/dressing tools. We hypothesis that this suture-free wound closure may be very useful for those wounds on which sutures are hard to be placed and where aesthetic appearance are concerned. The convenient handling procedures, tissue adhesion, and aesthetic view of the wound surface, make alginate a promising materials for sealing applications of surgical practice.