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).

Monday, November 16, 2009

Skin Graft - Medicine Plus



Skin Graft- Medline Plus
picture: http://ebsco.smartimagebase.com/imagescooked/9149W.jpg

Skin grafts and transplants are a crucial surgical development in biotechnology. This is especially utilized with burn victims. This website contains some basic information in understanding the procedure of a skin graft, the different types, risks of the procedure, reasons it is used, and post-operative care. For anyone searching for basic information, this site is very helpful.

A skin graft involves removing a patch of skin from one area and attaching it to a wounded part of the body, where skin needs to be regenerated. There are two basic forms of a skin graft: split-thickness skin graft and a full-thickness skin graft. Most of the time patients undergo a split-thickness skin graft, which takes the top two layers of skin from the donor site. With more serious wounds, that have deeper tissue loss, a full-thickness graft is used which removes the entire thickness of the skin, including muscles and the blood supply. It is incredible that this is possible, including the re-growth of blood vessels.
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