Advancements in hemostatic and bioactive materials for full-course wound management: From hemostasis to scar prevention

Wound healing is a long-term, multi-stage biological process that relies on the use of biomedical materials to realize comprehensive wound management, encompassing hemostasis, wound healing and promoting anti-scar. In this review, the applications of various hemostatic and bioactive materials in full-course wound management are underscored by summarizing their progress, current status and developing trend in wound healing. Adhesive hydrogels and degradable hemostatic emboli with biomimetic designs have been developed to achieve rapid hemostasis and hence enhance repair efficiency through accelerating clot formation. Smart drug delivery dressings and tissue engineering scaffolds can promote cell proliferation, angiogenesis and matrix remodeling to accelerate wound healing by providing infection monitoring and programmable drug release. Biomaterials are able to effectively prevent abnormal scar formation by controlling mechanical factors, sustaining drug release and regulating fibroblast transformation. These hemostatic and bioactive materials integrate multiple functions, overcoming the limitations of traditional dressings, leading to remarkably improving wound healing speed and quality. Nevertheless, material safety, accessibility and multifunctional optimization remain the major challenges that should be addressed urgently. Smart responsive biomaterials, personalized regenerative bio-scaffolds and full-course management strategies are expected to offer advanced therapeutic options for wound healing, holding great potential for clinical applications. • Hemostasis and bioactive materials promote the progress of wound management. • Wound dressings promote healing, controls infection and achieve less scarring. • Focusing on the future directions for smart responsive and personalized biomaterials.