Necklace-Structured PVA Sponges for Fast Bleeding Control in the Punctured Femoral Artery Hemorrhage

Uncontrollable hemorrhage from deep, narrow wounds poses a critical threat to life, as locating the bleeding arteries in such areas is challenging. Rapid bleeding control remains a significant challenge in pre-hospital care. Herein, an injectable hemostatic device filled with disc-like PVA sponges is developed for this objective. The pristine PVA sponge is strung as a necklace-structured sponge loaded in a foldable injector. With a novel retraction mechanism, this self-designed injector precisely deploys hemostatic sponges to deep bleeding sites, surpassing the XStat TM injector in design innovation. The PVA sponges' high porosity and unique porous structure allowed it for rapid shape recovery (<30 s) and good compressive strength. In the punctured wound, the swollen PVA sponges exert high compression to close the bleeding artery, resulting in fast-bleeding control. In the pig groin femoral artery injury model, the PVA sponge treatment resulted in a 100% survival rate during a 2-h hemostasis period, compared to a 33.3% survival rate in the cotton gauze control group. In addition, it can be easily taken out by a simple pulling. The easily applicable and removable necklace-structured PVA sponge is a highly promising hemostat for punctured wounds.