Treatment of Severe Aortic Bleeding Using Hemopatch in Swine on Dual Antiplatelet Therapy

Purpose: The perioperative management of patients on antithrombotic therapy is currently an unresolved problem as these therapies pose a considerable risk for perioperative hemorrhagic complications. The presented studies investigated the efficacy of a new collagen technology to achieve hemostasis. A polyethylene glycol-coated collagen pad (PCC) was compared to a marketed fibrinogen-thrombin coated collagen pad (FTC) for the treatment of an aortotomy incision in heparinized swine on dual antiplatelet therapy. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight 3-mm aortotomy incisions were created in nine heparinized pigs without antiplatelet therapy and treated with PCC. Sixty-eight aortotomy incisions were created in ten heparinized pigs that received clopidogrel (10-11mg/kg) and acetylsalicylic acid (8-11mg/kg) orally for 5days, and treated with either PCC or FTC (N = 34/group). Dual antiplatelet therapy resulted in significantly reduced platelet function. Aortotomy incisions resulted in life-threatening bleeding of 35-292ml/min. Results: In animals without antiplatelet treatment, PCC provided 96% immediate hemostatic success. In animals with antiplatelet treatment, FTC provided 18% immediate hemostatic success increasing to 74% after 10min. Strikingly, PCC provided 94% immediate success increasing to 100% after 10min. Controlling for differences in pretreatment bleeding rates, statistical model-estimated time to hemostasis was 12times shorter in PCC-treated lesions (p < .02). Conclusion: The combination of a procoagulant collagen pad with a synthetic sealing component provides excellent hemostatic properties under a worst-case scenario. PCC rapidly and firmly adheres to tissue, thereby controlling severe arterial bleeding, even when platelet function is significantly reduced. Treatment with PCC provided superior time to hemostasis compared to FTC.