A hemostatic hydrogel composition comprising a gel produced by combining oxidized dextran with an acrylated chitosan composition produced by dissolving chitosan in an acetic acid solution prior to acrylation, the hydrogel composition comprising a burst strength of greater than about 70 mmHg as determined using an ASTM F 2392-04 protocol at about 5 minutes after formation, and one or more of the following features:
- (i) a total amount of free aldehyde groups of from about 0.1 to about 0.7 moles aldehyde/mole oxidized dextran,
- (ii) the hydrogel composition is formed from oxidized dextran and acrylated chitosan, wherein the ratio of primary aldehydes in the oxidized dextran to the amines in the acrylated chitosan is from about 1.0 to about 2.0, and/or the ratio of total aldehydes in the oxidized dextran to amines in the acrylated chitosan is from about 1.5 to about 3.0,
- (iii) the ratio of weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of the acrylated chitosan to the oxidized dextran is from about 2 to about 10, the ratio of number-average molecular weight (Mn) of the acrylated chitosan to the oxidized dextran is from about 4 to about 15, the ratio of z average molecular weight (Mz) of the acrylated chitosan to the oxidized dextran is from about 2 to about 10, the ratio of polydispersity index (PDI) (Mw/Mn) of acrylated chitosan to oxidized dextran is from about 0.5 to about 0.8, the ratio of PDI (Mz/Mw) of acrylated chitosan to oxidized dextran is from about 0.5 to about 1.0, or a combination thereof,
- (iv) a bound water content of from about 65% w/w to about 95% w/w,
- (v) a three-dimensional porous structure comprising layers of substantially non-interconnected pores having (a) a pore size distribution from about 10 μm to about 850 μm in diameter, (b) a platelet adhesive surface, or a combination of (a) and (b),
- (vi) walls disposed between substantially non-interconnected pores, the walls having a wall thickness of from 0.046 μm to 50 μm,
- (vii) a platelet adhesive surface so that, when in contact with blood, the hydrogel composition permits platelets and/or red blood cells within the blood to adhere to the platelet adhesive surface and promote blood clot formation at or within the hydrogel composition,
- (viii) a platelet adhesive surface so that, when in contact with blood, the hydrogel composition permits platelet and/or red blood cells within the blood to adhere to the platelet adhesive surface and not permit platelets and/or red blood cells from the blood to enter pores present in a first surface of the hydrogel composition, pass through the hydrogel composition, and then exit the hydrogel composition via pores present in a second surface of the hydrogel composition that opposes the first surface,
- (ix) burst strength of greater than 20 mmHg as determined using an ASTM F 2392-04 protocol at about 10 seconds after formation,
- (x) a burst strength of greater than about 35 mmHg as determined using an ASTM F 2392-04 protocol at about two minutes after formation,
- (xi) an elastic modulus of from about 500 Pa to about 5000 Pa at from about 10 seconds to about 80 seconds after the formation of the hydrogel composition,
- (xii) a compression modulus of from about 3 kPa to about 250 kPa,
- (xiii) an average adhesion strength of from about 1.0 N to about 50.0 N as determined using an ASTM F 2258-05 protocol,
- (xiv) a volume that does not increase upon exposure to a physiological fluid or body fluid,
- (xv) a volume that shrinks by less than about 5% about 10 minutes after formation when exposed to a physiological fluid or body fluid, and
- (xvi) substantially transparent when the hydrogel composition has a thickness of 2 mm to 10 mm.