QuikClot’s first and second generation hemostasis products are based on a mineral called zeolite, a naturally occurring mineral material. Zeolite has many fascinating properties and has applications in many areas, such as in detergents, as a water softener, in insulated glazed windows, where it prevents condensation, as well as packaging in supermarkets to preserve food freshness. One amazing property of zeolite is the tremendous surface area that is found in a small volume of material. One teaspoon of zeolite provides a surface area equal to that of a football field. In addition to naturally occurring zeolite, approximately 1.5 million tons of various forms of engineered zeolite are manufactured every year.

Z-Medica zeolite based products include:

·         QuikClot granular

·         QuikClot 1^st Response

·         QuikClot ACS+

·         QuikClot Sport

·         QuikClot Sport Silver

Nature provides us with wonderfully redundant systems when it deems a system important to our survival. Certainly, keeping our blood inside our body where it belongs is one of those things important to our survival. Our bodies have multiple complex systems to help make sure this happens. The two main systems are platelet activation and the coagulation cascade. QuikClot brand zeolite based products work in both these systems to accelerate the clotting process.

Zeolite has the ability to activate platelets and activated platelets help stop bleeding by forming a plug. This occurs in conjunction with the body’s own mechanisms of platelet activation, which occur whenever there is an injury to a blood vessel.

QuikClot’s 1^st and 2^nd generation zeolite products also work within the body’s own coagulation cascade. Zeolite contains a cation (Ca++) that is a cofactor in many steps of the coagulation cascade. Also, there is evidence that QuikClot facilitates a phenomenon widely known as the “glass effect”. It has been known since the 1800’s that blood clots faster when it comes in contact with glass. Since then, it has been shown that this is due to the negative surface charge found on glass. Further research tells us that the negative surface potential activates a protein at the very beginning of the contact pathway, one of the two chains in the coagulation cascade. The surface charge and isoelectric point of inorganic oxides, such as zeolite promote rapid onset of clotting and strong clot formation as a result of protein activation in the coagulation cascade.[1]

Furthermore, QuikClot zeolite products adsorb water from the blood. Water is trapped in the zeolite and held there by the charge within zeolite pores, zeolite framework and hydrogen bond formation. This locally concentrates the cellular and large protein components of the blood further catalyzing clot formation.

Delivery mechanisms can also enhance the powerful blood clotting properties of zeolite. The first generation QuikClot granular brand hemostatic agent was a powder that was simply poured into the wound. While it is very effective, a powder is a somewhat primitive delivery system and has several drawbacks. First, in a pumping arterial wound some of the material may be washed away by the poweful flow of the blood itself. Secondly, powders cannot be poured in an upward direction, against gravity, so a wound must be beneath the person applying the powder.

Z-Medica’s second generation zeolite based QuikClot brand products address this shortcoming. These products contain 3 mm diameter zeolite beads packaged in a very porous surgical mesh. This delivery system is available in several different sizes. It allows the hemostatic agent to be applied in any direction – up, down, or sideways. It also allows for the application of the material against a wound producing very high blood flow and allows the caregiver to apply pressure.

The first generation zeolite QuikClot products had some issues with heat generation, which are not found in the second generation zeolite products. When water is rapidly adsorbed by the zeolite and trapped by hydrogen bond formation, heat is generated. When used incorrectly, high temperatures can be reached.

QuikClot’s 1^st and 2^nd generation zeolite products provide an extremely effective toolkit to stop bleeding of any kind, brisk or oozing. Mechanisms of action include:

·         Adsorption of water thereby accelerating fibrin formation Platelet activation

·         Activation of the coagulation cascade due to the “glass effect”

·          Supplying a resource for Ca++, a cofactor in the coagulation cascade

·         A large zeolite pore surface area facilitating fibrin formation

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