A skin graft is a patch of skin that is removed by surgery from one area of the body and transplanted, or attached, to another area.

Description

This surgery is usually done while you are under general anesthesia. That means you will be asleep and pain-free. Healthy skin is taken from a place on your body called the donor site. Most people who are having a skin graft have a split-thickness skin graft. This takes the two top layers of skin from the donor site (the epidermis) and the layer under the epidermis (the dermis). The donor site can be any area of the body. Most times, it is an area that is hidden by clothes, such as the buttock or inner thigh. The graft is carefully spread on the bare area where it is being transplanted. It is held in place either by gentle pressure from a well-padded dressing that covers it, or by staples or a few small stitches. The donor-site area is covered with a sterile dressing for 3 to 5 days.

People with deeper tissue loss may need a full-thickness skin graft. This requires an entire thickness of skin from the donor site, not just the top two layers. A full-thickness skin graft is a more complicated procedure. Common donor sites for full-thickness skin grafts include the chest wall, back, or abdominal wall.

Surgeons may use skin grafting to treat:

• extensive wounding or trauma
• burns
• areas of extensive skin loss due to infection such as necrotizing fasciitis or purpura fulminans
• specific surgeries that may require skin grafts for healing to occur - most commonly removal of skin cancers

Skin grafting often takes place after serious injuries when some of the body's skin is damaged. Surgical removal (excision or debridement) of the damaged skin is followed by skin grafting. The grafting serves two purposes: reducing the course of treatment needed (and time in the hospital), and improving the function and appearance of the area of the body which receives the skin graft.

There are two types of skin grafts:

• The more common type involves removing a thin layer of skin from a healthy part of the body (the donor section) - like peeling a potato.
• A full-thickness skin graft involves pinching and cutting skin away from the donor section.

A full-thickness skin graft is more risky, in terms of the body accepting the skin, yet it leaves only a scar line on the donor section, similar to a Cesarean-section scar. In the case of full-thickness skin grafts, the donor section will often heal much more quickly than the injury and causes less pain than a partial-thickness skin graft.

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