Puff pastry-like chitosan/konjac glucomannan matrix with thrombin-occupied microporous starch particles as a composite for hemostasis.

Hemorrhage control is key for reducing mortality following severe trauma. In this study, we produced a puff pastry-like chitosan/konjac glucomannan matrix loaded with thrombin-occupied microporous starch particles to initiate hemostasis. The composite showed a hierarchical porous structure system consisting of porous and rough structures with evenly distributed microporous starch particles. Thrombin was evenly and independently distributed on the microporous starch particles within the hierarchical system and served to accelerate hemostasis. Meanwhile, the composite displayed excellent water absorption capacity, high zeta potential, roughness, and porosity. The composite was found to elicit desirable pro-thrombin time (PT), activated partial thrombin time (APTT), and whole blood clotting indices (BCI). Experiments using animal models demonstrated that the composite could effectively control wound hemorrhage. Furthermore, the composite showed good biocompatibility and effective degradability. Together, our results show that the puff pastry-like hemostat with hierarchical porous structure offers significant potential for use in hemostasis control.