Ethicon, Inc. announced results of a large, retrospective study that showed the use of the SURGICEL^® Family of Topical Absorbable Hemostats was associated with lower costs, reduced product usage, shortened length of hospital stay, and reduced transfusions compared to the use of other adjunctive hemostats.

The study was presented at the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management annual meeting in Houston, Texas.

The study results suggest that hospitals may improve patient outcomes and limit the overall cost of treatment by making the appropriate selection of hemostatic agents to minimize blood loss and potentially prevent complications from re-bleeding during surgery.

Hard-to-control, poorly controlled and uncontrolled bleeding in the surgical setting can have severe consequences, such as transfusions, increased length of stay and up to a 93 percent increase in costs. Adjunctive hemostats are typically utilized to reduce or prevent surgical bleeding, and over time, the use of hemostatic agents has increased for all surgical procedures.

“During the last 50 years, the SURGICEL® Family of Hemostats has consistently proven to be safe and effective with superb absorbability and in vitro bactericidal properties,” said Jerome Riebman, M.D., director, Medical Affairs at Ethicon. “This study adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests the SURGICEL® Family of Topical Absorbable Hemostats has the potential to reduce burdens associated with bleeding and bleeding-related complications, which translates into cost and resource use savings for health care providers.”

In June, a different study presented at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis showed that the use of advanced SURGICEL^® products (SURGICEL^® FIBRILLAR™ and SURGICEL^®SNOW™) was associated with lower costs, reduced product usage, reduced length of hospital stay and reduced units of blood transfusions compared to SURGICEL^® Original. These data provide further evidence of the efficacy of the SURGICEL^® Family of Products, as well as its potential to positively impact patient outcomes and hospital resource use and cost.

Used in more than 100 million procedures, SURGICEL® ORIGINAL is considered to be the gold-standard comparator in topical absorbable hemostat clinical trials. Designed to meet evolving surgical needs, our advanced SURGICEL^® FIBRILLAR™ and SURGICEL^® SNOW™ brands enable surgeons to do more in the operating room while saving more.

The SURGICEL^® Family of Hemostats are the first and only absorbable hemostats in the United States with proven bactericidal properties against more strains of bacteria than any other cellulose-based topical adjunctive hemostat, including various antibiotic-resistant bacteria (MRSA, VRE, PRSP and MRSE). Only SURGIGEL^® Absorbable Hemostats demonstrate consistent bactericidal activity in vitro against the top five pathogens commonly reported to cause surgical site infections.

Read more at www.surgicel.com.