Burn Vacuum
My second article deals with a solution to the medical predicament discussed in Non-Contact Normothermic Wound Treatment. This video shows a teenage boy who suffered second and third degree burns all over his body from a gasoline burn and required skin grafts to heal his wounds. A doctor by the name of Joseph Molner is using a special vacuum on his patient’s wounds to suck out the moisture and impeding the growth of exudates and inflammatory cells. This vacuum not only speeds up the healing process but also allows for the grafts to epithelialize to the skin at a much faster pace as well. From my research, I was amazed by the seemly contradictory treatments that both work on healing wounds, but different kinds. To treat chronic wounds, moisture and heat must be added to promote epithelization of the skin grafts and the skin attached to it. This summons immune cells to fight off bacteria and creates an environment to hot for bacteria to thrive. However, if the patient suffers from acute wounds and requires split thickness skin grafts, excess heat and moisture exacerbates the epithelialization of graft and skin. Thus, moisture must be removed from the wound to stop the build up of exudates and inflammatory cells that impedes healing.
Welcome to our Skin Grafts and Transplants blog! Here we hope to detail the procedure, recent issues, research, and relevance to health care policy in the field of skin grafts and transplants.
Skin is the largest organ of the human body, represents about 16% of the total body weight, and covers the large majority of the body. As the external covering of the body, skin is the first line of defense against infection from pathogens in the environment. Skin also provides the sensation of touch and pressure, prevents water loss, insulates the body, and regulates body temperature. Therefore, it is an essential barrier and mediator to the outside world that must be maintained. Primary methods to restore irreversibly damaged skin include skin grafts and transplants.
Skin grafting is a step on the reconstructive ladder for wounds that cannot be closed primarily. The "reconstructive ladder" is a generalized term coined to describe complex stepwise procedure to treat physical external injury. Skin grafting is categorized into five distinct types: Autologous (donor and recipient are the same), Isogeneic (donor and recipient are genetically identical), Allogeneic (donor and recipient are same species), xenogeneic (donor and recipient are of different species), and prosthetic (replacement of lost tissue by synthetic materials).
Skin is the largest organ of the human body, represents about 16% of the total body weight, and covers the large majority of the body. As the external covering of the body, skin is the first line of defense against infection from pathogens in the environment. Skin also provides the sensation of touch and pressure, prevents water loss, insulates the body, and regulates body temperature. Therefore, it is an essential barrier and mediator to the outside world that must be maintained. Primary methods to restore irreversibly damaged skin include skin grafts and transplants.
Skin grafting is a step on the reconstructive ladder for wounds that cannot be closed primarily. The "reconstructive ladder" is a generalized term coined to describe complex stepwise procedure to treat physical external injury. Skin grafting is categorized into five distinct types: Autologous (donor and recipient are the same), Isogeneic (donor and recipient are genetically identical), Allogeneic (donor and recipient are same species), xenogeneic (donor and recipient are of different species), and prosthetic (replacement of lost tissue by synthetic materials).
Monday, November 16, 2009
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