Efficacy and Safety of Ferric Chloride in Controlling Hepatic Bleeding; An Animal Model Study

BACKGROUND: Controlling parenchymal hemorrhage especially in liver parenchyma, despite all the progress in surgical science, is still one of the challenges surgeons face saving patients’ lives and there is a research challenge among researchers in this field to introduce a more effective method. OBJECTIVES: This study attempts to determine the haemostatic effect of ferric chloride and compare it with that of the standard method (suturing technique) in controlling bleeding from liver parenchymal tissue. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this animal model study 60 male Wistar rats were used. An incision, two centimeters (cm) long and half a cm deep, was made on each rat’s liver and the hemostasis time was measured once using ferric chloride with different concentrations (5%, 10%, 15%, 25% and 50%) and then using the control method (i.e. controlling bleeding by suturing). The liver tissue was examined for pathological changes. RESULTS: The hemostasis time of ferric chloride concentration groups was significantly less than that of the control group (P value < 0.001). The pathologic examination showed the highest frequency of low grade inflammation based on the defined pathological grading. CONCLUSIONS: Ferric chloride is an effective haemostatic agent in controlling liver parenchymal tissue hemorrhage in an animal model.