PRESENT STATUS OF GELATIN SPONGE FOR THE CONTROL OF HEMORRHAGE

Abstract

The properties of an absorbable sponge composed essentially of gelatin and designed primarily for hemostasis were first reported by Correll and Wise.¹Frantz referred to this material in a review on new methods of hemostasis which appeared shortly afterward.²Subsequent reports by Pilcher and Meacham,³Correll, Prentice and Wise⁴and Light and Prentice⁵have established its usefulness, particularly from the standpoint of the problems of hemostasis encountered by the neurosurgeon. Other hemostatic agents which had been previously developed were fibrin foam, which has been extensively used in neurosurgery as a result of the excellent work of Ingraham and Bailey⁶and others,⁷and oxidized or soluble cellulose (cellulosic acid) which has been the subject of extensive reports by Frantz and her co-workers⁸and by others.⁹ Those who have used the fibrin foam and the gelatin sponge advocated soaking in a solution of