To solve the problem of strong adhesion and excessive blood loss caused by the use of hydrophilic zeolite gauze (Z-Gauze) in uncontrollable bleeding, we have modified the surface of commercial Z-Gauze with a paraffin coating and prepared a hydrophobic dressing PZ-Gauze. After paraffin coating, the adhesion of Z-Gauze was reduced without an obvious decrease in coagulation activity. The clotting time of the hydrophobic PZ-Gauze was reduced from 378.3 to 154.6 s compared with that of cotton gauze, and the peeling force was decreased from 348.8 to 84.7 mN compared with that of Z-Gauze. Besides, PZ-Gauze can efficiently cut down the blood loss during treatment. On the basis of in vitro and in vivo experiments, it is confirmed that surface hydrophobic modification does not change the procoagulant performance because of the maintained cation exchange capacity of zeolites, and the reduced blood loss as well as enhanced difficulty for fibrin adhesion is attributed to its hydrophobicity. This is different from the traditional gauze procoagulant theories, where gauze hydrophilicity and procoagulant performance are always positively correlated.
Keywords: adhesion; hemostasis; hydrophobic surface; water absorbency; zeolite.