Complications from the use of absorbable hemostatic sponges.

Abstract

<h3>Review of the Literature</h3> Since 1942 a large body of literature has grown around the use of the three types of absorbable hemostatic sponges which are now widely recommended and are the subject of this study: those made of fibrin (Fibrin Foam, Zimospuma); oxidized cellulose (Oxycel, Hemo-Pak, Zellurongaze), and gelatin (Gelfoam, Spongostan, Spongioprot, Topostasin). In 1945 Jenkins and Clark¹cautioned against the indiscriminate use of these materials. Frantz and associates²suggested in 1944 that oxidized cellulose be used "in as small quantity as possible." However, in 1946 Frantz³stated in a critical review of all three types of hemostatic sponges that there is no evidence of unfortunate late sequelae, and "they are all apparently safe and useful." The great majority of writers have emphasized the minimal tissue reaction, the rapid absorption, and the good hemostatic properties of these agents; in a review of the literature I found