Skin grafts are procedures where a damaged skin is replaced by healthy skin; generally from another area of the patient’s own body. In case it is not possible to graft skin from the patient’s own body, then a donor is found whose skin can be transplanted on the patient’s body. Generally skin is damaged when it is accidentally burnt or damaged due to accidents or sometimes some other infection has created skin problems which need skin grafting. Some specific surgeries require skin grafts for healing.
A skin graft serve two main purposes- to reduce the course of treatment needed and to improve the function and appearance of the area where the graft is performed. In any burn, the skin is the first to be damaged. Hot oil, water, hot vessel, fire caught by the dress of the patient, or gas burn or any explosion results in damaged skin. The percentage of the burnt tissue is an important factor in skin grafts. Patients with ninety percent burns will hardly have any skin to graft and will always require donors. Those with lesser percentage of burns may use their own skin for grafting.
Finding donors to donate skin is a difficult task. Also the donor’s skin has to match with the recipient’s; else the skin graft will be rejected. Skin from dead people is also used for skin grafts. The dead person’s family has to immediately inform the skin bank of the death so that skin donation can be done before any problems set in. The skin of a dead person if it is reasonably healthy can provide for the skin grafts of at least six to seven people. Sometimes, if a human donor is not found, the skin of an animal may be grafted. Though the body would reject an animal skin, the gravity of the wound would reduce by this time, the fluids like blood and plasma will be retained as they have a skin covering. And the patient will gain a day or two to recover from his skin wounds and have better chances of producing his own skin graft.
Skin grafting is a very delicate procedure. The surgeon will have to place the skin graft on the wound and fix it with tiny sutures. Sometimes fluid may accumulate inside the graft and endanger its recovery. To prevent this, the surgeons have devised certain methods. Once the graft has been done, care has to be taken to see that it is not rejected but continues to live healthily in the person’s body. |
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