Medicaltalks about 6 years ago

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Removing the skin to create a graft!

Skin grafting is a surgical procedure that involves removing skin from one area of the body and moving it, or transplanting it, to a different area of the body. This is often used for burn patients or after an injury. There are two types of skin graft: split-thickness grafts in which just a few layers of outer skinare transplanted and full-thickness grafts, which involve all of the dermis. There is usually permanent scarring that is noticeable. During a skin graft, a special skin-cutting instrument removes the skin from an area (the donor site) usually hidden by clothing such as the buttocks or inner thigh. Once removed, the graft is placed on the area in need of covering and held in place by a dressing and a few stitches. The tiny holes, or fenestrations on the skin are made to allow the graft to be expanded to cover large defects, provide a route for drainage of blood or serum that may accumulate under the graft, which helps reduce tension and the risk of infection and improve vascularization, and increase the flexibility of the graft so that it can conform to uneven shapes. The healing occurs as the spaces between the mesh fill in with new skin growth.