Autologous Fibrin Sealant Stops Surgical Site Bleeding

A protein gel that serves as a fibrin sealant for surgical wound care harvests fibrin products from a patient's own plasma in about one hour, using an automated sterile blood processing disposable device, which produces the second-generation surgical sealant.

The CryoSeal fibrin sealant (FS) system has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as an adjunct to hemostasis in liver resection surgery. The system extracts the two interactive protein component solutions of the fibrin sealant: the wound-healing proteins of fibrinogen, fibronectin, factor VIII, von Willebrands factor and factor XIII; and the activating enzyme thrombin. Customized applicator kits (either metered or non-metered) are then created, pre-filled and ready to use. When combined at the bleeding wound site, the two components form an adhesive gel that assists in stopping the bleeding and bonding tissues. Since the system uses autologous plasma products, the risk of pathogen contamination is eliminated, as are adverse reactions caused by components derived from animal products.

Although fibrin sealants have traditionally only been used to stop the blood oozing at surgical incision sites, they are increasingly being viewed as an adhesive and biodegradable media that can be commingled with stem and progenitor cells in order to retain them at the wound site and serve as scaffolding to focus and accelerate the in situ regeneration of tissue.

The CryoSeal FS system is manufactured by ThermoGenesis (Rancho Cordova, CA, USA). The system received the European Community (CE) mark in 2001.


Related Links:
ThermoGenesis