Development of Flowable Biomaterials that Promote Wound Healing with Infection Control and Prevention

Wounds sustained under battlefield conditions are considered to be contaminated with microorganisms; hence, initial treatment protocol includes decreasing this contamination to reduce the possibility of infection. The early and aggressive administration of antimicrobial treatment, starting with intervention on the battlefield, has resulted in improved patient outcomes and is considered the standard of care. Although previous studies have developed effective antimicrobial agents, none has the combination of shelf stability under battlefield conditions, carrying ease, facile self-administration, immediate functionality upon application, blood loss reduction, broad spectrum antimicrobial infection control and promotion of healing. This proposal is to design and engineer a novel method of battlefield-administered wound treatment to minimize post-injury complications and infection based upon a biodegradable, water-based, flowable, antimicrobial hydrogel system that is being developed to simultaneously encourage vascular tissue ingrowth and wound healing, while providing infection control in a product format useful under battlefield conditions. In vitro physical, analytical and microbial testing will be conducted to provide feasibility of the engineered construct.