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How are skin grafts used to treat severe burns?
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transplant
British surgeon Andrew Ready flushing a donated kidney during a transplant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, England, 2006.
Skin grafts are a vital surgical procedure used to cover and heal severe burn wounds by transplanting healthy skin to the damaged area. The primary goal is to close the wound as rapidly as possible to prevent infection and minimize further tissue injury.12
The process typically involves the following steps:
- Primary Excision: Surgeons remove necrotic (dead) tissue within 24 to 48 hours of the injury to prepare the site for grafting.2
- Autografting: This is the final and preferred method of coverage. Surgeons harvest the patient's own skin from uninjured areas using an instrument called a dermatome.2
- Graft Types: Most autografts are split-thickness grafts, which consist of the epidermis and part of the dermis. These are favored because they can be harvested quickly from large areas and have a high success rate for "taking" (surviving) in the new location.123
- Temporary Coverage: If the extent of the burn exceeds the amount of available donor skin, surgeons may use temporary measures such as allografts (from cadavers), xenografts (pigskin), or specialized plastic dressings until permanent autografting can be completed.24