A novel hydrogel-coated chest drain based on ropivacaine-glycerol-alginate hydrogel with construction and application to postoperative thoracic rehabilitation.

This article focuses on the development and evaluation of a ropivacaine-loaded hydrogel-encapsulated chest drain designed to improve postoperative comfort and recovery in thoracic surgery patients. The hydrogel, composed of 2% sodium alginate and 10% glycerol with ropivacaine concentrations between 0.25% and 0.75%, demonstrated favorable morphological characteristics, controlled degradation, sustained drug release, and bacteriostatic effects in vitro. In a rat model using the seldinger method for chest drain implantation, the low-concentration (0.25%) ropivacaine hydrogel showed superior analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and oxidative stress-inhibitory effects compared to higher concentrations, as evidenced by imaging, lung function tests, histological analysis, and superoxide dismutase activity assays. These findings suggest that the modified ropivacaine-alginate hydrogel chest drain may offer a promising local slow-release strategy to enhance postoperative recovery and reduce complications after thoracic surgery.