title: The efficacy and safety of chitosan dextran gel in a burr hole neurosurgical sheep model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Achieving and maintaining haemostasis is of paramount importance in neurosurgery. Chitosan has been shown in both animal and human models to be significantly effective in haemostasis as well as in reducing adhesion formation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the haemostatic potential and to study histopathological changes caused by novel chitosan dextran gel in a neurosurgical sheep model.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten sheep underwent neurosurgical burr hole procedure. Bleeding control was tested at the level of bone, dura and brain separately with both chitosan gel and Gelfoam paste on separate burr holes. Baseline bleeding was measured at the time of injury using the Boezaart scale, and then every 2 min after the application of each agent until complete haemostasis or 10 min, whichever was earlier. Safety was assessed through MRI scans and histopathological analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mixed modeling showed no statistical difference in time to haemostasis between chitosan gel and Gelfoam paste (means of log-normalized areas under the curve were 1.3688 and 1.3196 respectively) for each burr hole (p = 0.7768). Logistic regression modeling showed that Chitosan significantly decreased the incidence of bleeding beyond the first time point measured after application of the treatment when compared to Gelfoam (OR = 2.7, p = 0.04). Average edema volume (cm(3)) on post-operative MRI was 0.97 for Gelfoam and 1.11 for (p = 0.49) while average histology scores were 2.5 for Gelfoam versus 3.3 for chitosan (p = 0.32).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chitosan dextran gel is an effective haemostatic agent to control bleeding in brain tissue. It is safe and nontoxic to neural tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery- Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. rajivsukanya@gmail.com
authors.forename: Sukanya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rajiv
authors.forename: Marguerite
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harding
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bassiouni
authors.forename: Camille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jardeleza
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Drilling
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Thanh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moratti
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Peter-John
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Wormald
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003911:Dextrans / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005782:Gels / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D012756:Sheep; D000267:Tissue Adhesions / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D003911:Dextrans; D005782:Gels; D048271:Chitosan