If a person is seriously burned or otherwise wounded, they may undergo a medical procedure known as skin grafting. Skin grafting is a medical technique in which skin is transplanted from one healthy area known as the donor site, to the burned area to help damaged skin heal. During the skin grafting procedure, damaged skin is first surgically removed in a process called excision or derangement and then followed by skin grafting, in which skin from another area of the body, the donor section, is removed and replaced on top of the injury site.
Benefits of Skin Grafting
Skin grafting is beneficial for burn or explosion victims for a number of reasons:
-It can reduce the severity of the treatment needed
-It can reduce the amount of time a patient spends in the hospital recovering from injuries
-It can improve the function of the area of the body that receives the procedure
-It can improve the physical appearance of the injured area
Burn victims and others who have been seriously injured in fires and explosions may benefit from a skin grafting procedure to help heal their injuries.
Types of Skin Grafting
There are two main types of skin grafts:
-Split thickness grafts, also known as partial thickness grafts. This procedure involves the epidermis (the outer layer of skin) as well as variable amounts of inner layers. A thin layer of donor skin is commonly taken from the buttocks or the thigh and placed on the injury site. The site then heals through re-epitheliasation as new skin grows beneath the donor skin. The disadvantage of this procedure is that it leaves a large scar on the donor site. For this reason, donated skin is taken from an easily-covered area.
-Full thickness grafts. In this procedure, all layers of skin from the donor site are used. This procedure is more risky in that the wound site is more likely to reject this new layer of skin, but is sometimes preferred because it leaves only a scar line on the donor section rather than a more dramatic scar patch. The donor section will also heal more quickly in this type of grafting process and is less painful than the split thickness method. However, this technique also requires a longer stay in the hospital for healing purposes.
Another less-common grafting technique is known as the composite graft, used for smaller cartilage-containing areas such as the ears and nose.
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To learn more about skin grafting and to access other resources for burn victims, visit the Explosion Victims Resource Center, a service of Habush, Habush, & Rottier, S.C.