Biomaterials in Rhinology

Numerous commercially available sinonasal biomaterials are available. PVA appears to be the most popular “standard” to which other biomaterials are compared. Collagen-based biomaterials seem to be generally effective in achieving hemostasis, especially when mixed with a coagulation cascade participant, such as thrombin. Hyaluronic acid (HA) biomaterials seem to promote wound healing as a class, yet their hemostatic abilities have not been well demonstrated. Fibrin glue shows promising results in early trials, although drawbacks unique to this product have limited its popularity. Among the natural and synthetic biopolymers, chitosan gel appears to stand out as a material that exhibits both hemostatic and wound healing properties. Steroid-releasing implants have shown promising results so far in decreasing the inflammatory load and redeciding the rates of adhesion formation.