• Prefabricated mineral-organic composite enables bone sealing. • Fluid contact triggers rapid consolidation and adhesion. • Sustained sealing under 140 mmHg for at least 7 days. • Tranexamic acid is incorporated and released in a controlled manner. Mineral-organic calcium phosphate systems incorporating phosphorylated amino acids have recently been developed as resorbable bone adhesives functioning under wet conditions but requiring manual powder-liquid mixing prior to application. In contrast, bone wax used for sealing bleeding bone surfaces consists of non-resorbable hydrocarbons lacking intrinsic adhesion. To translate such a mineral-organic system into a prefabricated, moldable format with bone-wax-like handling while retaining fluid-triggered network formation. A polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based composite incorporating tetracalcium phosphate (TTCP), phosphoserine (pSer), and antifibrinolytic tranexamic acid (TXA) was prepared and characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, Micro-CT penetration analysis, and a 7-day liquid-sealing assay at 140 mmHg. TXA release was quantified by UV–Vis, and MG-63 eluate cytocompatibility was assessed. Upon fluid exposure, the composite exhibited bone-wax-like handling and hardened with PEG release and network formation while TTCP remained crystalline. It developed compressive strength and adhesion exceeding conventional bone wax and hydroxyapatite-forming PEG controls, maintained liquid sealing > 7 days, released ∼ 2 mg TXA within 30 min, and showed cytocompatible behavior. The system demonstrates a coordination-reactive mineral-organic hybrid suitable for bone sealing while enabling antifibrinolytic release, representing a resorbable alternative to inert bone wax.
Renner et al. (Fri,) studied this question.