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Theranostics 2023; 13(15):5365-5385. doi:10.7150/thno.87639 This issue Cite

Research Paper

Photocurable injectable Janus hydrogel with minimally invasive delivery for all-in-one treatment of gastric perforations and postoperative adhesions

Xiaoqi Wu^1,2,4*, Zihan Wang^1,2*, Jie Xu³, Liu Yu¹, Maoyu Qin¹, Jianfeng Li¹, Sitian Liu¹, Weihan Zheng¹, Zeyu Li¹, Jun Ouyang¹, Yanbing Li¹, Guoxin Li^2✉, Ling Wang^3✉, Wenhua Huang^1✉, Yaobin Wu^1✉

1. Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Translation of Medical 3D Printing Application, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Digital Medicine and Biomechanics, Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
2. Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
3. Biomaterials Research Center, School of Biomedical Engineering, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
4. Department of Urology and Andrology, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200001, China.
*These authors contributed equally to this work.

✉ Corresponding authors: wuyaobin2018edu.cn (Y. Wu), hwhedu.cn (W. Huang), wangling0607edu.cn (L. Wang), liguoxinedu.cn (G. Li).

Abstract

Background: Surgical sutures for sealing gastric perforations (GP) are associated with severe inflammation and postoperative adhesions. Hydrogel bioadhesives offer a potential alternative for sutureless repair of GP; however, their application in minimally invasive surgery is limited due to their prefabricated patch-form, lacking in situ gelation capability. In this study, we emphasized an all-in-one minimally invasive strategy for sutureless repair of acute GP.

Methods: an injectable photocurable Janus hydrogel was synthesized, and their ability to seal GP was performed. A rat GP model was used to verify the wound healing and antiadhesion efficiency of hydrogels, and a rabbit GP model was used to verify their laparoscopic feasibility. A fresh human corpse GP model was further employed to verify the user-friendliness of a minimally invasive deliverable (MID) device. A minipig GP model was utilized to evaluate the all-in-one minimally invasive strategy for the treatment of acute GP.

Results: Such injectable Janus hydrogel exhibited asymmetric adhesiveness, where the inner-facing side of the hydrogel displays strong sealing and wound healing abilities for GP, while the outward-facing side prevents postoperative adhesion formation. We further developed a minimally invasive deliverable (MID) device integrating hydrogel-delivery parts and photocrosslinking-gelation parts in a laparoscope system. The precise delivery and rapid fluid-tight sealing process of the injectable Janus hydrogel using the MID device for in situ GP repair were demonstrated in a simulated clinical scenario. The in vivo effectiveness of GP sutureless repair was successfully validated in porcine models, with further exploration of the underlying mechanism.

Conclusions: Our findings reveal that the injectable Janus hydrogel offers an all-in-one strategy for sutureless GP repair and concurrent prevention of postoperative adhesion formation by incorporating the MID device in minimally invasive surgery, presenting the significant potential to reduce patient surgical complications.

Keywords: injectable Janus hydrogel, photocrosslinking, all-in-one, minimally invasive, gastric perforations.

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