This might seem odd to most of you but the other day I was watching a CSI which featured a burn victim. They mentioned skin grafts, and I couldn't help but wonder how skin grafts work - obviously skin is taken from one part of the body and grafted onto a damaged part, but then what happens to the area the skin was taken from? I was puzzled so I did some research to find out.
Skin grafts are given to a patient for multiple reasons. These can be:
- burns
- as a result of surgery
- to close large wounds
- cosmetic reasons
- and others
There are two distinct kind of skin graft. These are used in different circumstances. As far as I can tell, the most common, and easiest to perform skin graft is a partial or split thickness skin graft. This refers to the fact that when they take the skin from the donor site, only the epidermis is used. On a full thickness skin graft, the dermis is also taken, but these are only used for more serious and deeper skin damage.
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| http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/8912.htm |
The skin is taken from the donor site using a dermatome, and attached to the graft site using stitches or clips. The graft site is then covered by a sterile dressing and left for 5 to 7 days so that it reconnects to the blood supply. The donor area is also covered and allowed to heal. Apparently, the donor site is often more uncomfortable than the graft site.
So, it turns out, you aren't left with a bleeding skinless area as I once thought, because they only take the top layers of skin! It sounds an uncomfortable procedure for the patient, but I can see why they'd want to have it, even for cosmetic reasons.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/plastic-surgery/pages/how-it-is-performed.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_grafting
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002982.htm
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