A skin graft is a patch of skin that is surgically removed from one area of the body and transplanted to another one.
Where does the skin come from?
The best skin grafts come from the patient's own unburned skin (donor sites). The grafts (called autografts) will ideally come from locations that are not ordinarily visible, such as the buttocks or upper thighs, because the donor sites will not be normal in appearance after they heal.
How it is done?
- While the patient is awake (local anesthesia), sleepy (sedated), or deep asleep and pain-free (general anesthesia), healthy skin is taken from elsewhere on the patient's body using a dermatome (skin-cutting instrument). This is called a split-thickness skin graft, which contains the dermis with only a portion of the epidermis (top skin layer).
- The selection should consider the visibility of the donor skin and color match.
- The graft is carefully spread on the bare area to be covered.
- It is held in place either by gentle pressure from a well-padded dressing or by a few small stitches. The raw donor area is covered with a sterile nonadherent dressing for a 3-5 days to protect it from infection.
- For more extensive tissue loss, a full-thickness skin graft, which includes the entire thickness of the skin, may be necessary.