Hemostasis is of critical importance for damage control and the initiation of tissue repair in surgery and trauma. Mesoporous silica materials, due to their favorable biocompatibility and excellent surface properties, have attracted increasing attention for their outstanding hemostatic performance. In this study, silver nanoparticle-incorporated mesoporous silica granules (AgNP-MSG) were prepared by means of one-pot sol-gel processing, which brought about a highly blood-absorbent composite capable of prompt hemostasis. Detailed studies were performed to evaluate its structure, cellular compatibility, and adsorption capacity, emphasizing the influence of the composite on in vivo degradability and hemostasis efficacy. The as-prepared composite showed good compatibility and sustained antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Further in vivo experimentation demonstrated that hemorrhage in a rat liver injury model was effectively controlled within 7 s by 5% AgNP-MSG, much more rapidly than commercially derived hemostatic gauze. Histological analysis further demonstrated that the fabricated composites could completely degrade at the site of liver injury 2 weeks later. These results suggest that as-prepared AgNP-MSG has great potential as a hemostatic material with robust antibacterial activity for future therapeutic translation.
Keywords: antibacterial; composite; hemorrhage; hemostasis; liver trauma; mesoporous silica; silver nanoparticles; wound healing.