Surgical and Histopathological Effects of Topical Ankaferd (R) Hemostat on Major Arterial Vessel Injury Related to Elevated Intra-Arterial Blood Pressure

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the surgical and histopathological hemostatic effects of topical Ankaferd blood stopper (ABS) on major arterial vessel injury related to elevated intra-arterial blood pressure in an experimental rabbit model. Materials and Methods: The study included 14 New Zealand rabbits. ABS was used to treat femoral artery puncture on 1 side in each animal and the other untreated side served as the control. Likewise, for abdominal aortic puncture, only 50% of the aortic injuries received topical liquid ABS and the others did not (control). The experiment was performed under conditions of normal arterial blood pressure and was repeated with a 50% increase in blood pressure. Histopathological analysis was performed in all of the studied animals. Results: Mean bleeding time in the control femoral arteries was 105.0 +/- 18.3 s, versus 51.4 +/- 9.8 s (p<0.05) in those treated with ABS. Mean blood loss from the punctured control femoral arteries was 5.0 +/- 1.5 mg and 1.6 +/- 0.4 mg from those treated with ABS (p<0.05). Histopathological examination of the damaged arterial structures showed that ABS induced red blood cell aggregates. Conclusion: ABS administered to experimental major arterial vessel injury reduced both bleeding time and blood loss under conditions of normal and elevated intra-arterial blood pressure. ABS-induced erythroid aggregation was prominent at the vascular tissue level. These findings will inform the design of future experimental and clinical studies on the anti-bleeding and vascular repairing effects of the novel hemostatic agent ABS. (Turk J Hematol 2011; 28: 206-12)