The donor area may look pink or lighter than your surrounding skin for a few months, depending on your skin tone, then leave a faint hardly noticeable scar. This is where the full thickness of skin the top layer and layers underneath are removed and the area is stitched closed. Sites often used include the neck, behind the ear, the upper arm and groin. Because this type of skin graft is thicker, picking up a new blood supply can be more difficult, so any dressing will be left in place for 5 to 7 days before being removed by the surgical team.
Before the procedure, you'll be given a general anaesthetic or a local anaesthetic , depending on the size and location of the affected area. The skin graft will usually be held in place using stitches, staples, clips or special glue. The area will be covered with a sterile dressing until it has connected with the surrounding blood supply, which usually takes around 5 to 7 days.
A dressing will also be placed over the area where the skin has been taken from the donor site to help protect it from infection. The donor area of partial thickness skin grafts usually takes about 2 weeks to heal. For full thickness skin grafts, the donor area only takes about 5 to 10 days to heal, because it's usually quite small and closed with stitches.
At first, the colour of the grafted skin may appear red or purple, but it should begin to look more like your surrounding skin over time. It can take a year or two for the appearance of the skin to settle down completely. The final colour may be slightly different from the surrounding skin, and the area may be slightly indented. Smoking increases your chance of problems such as slow healing.
Ask your health care provider for help quitting. On the day of the surgery: Follow instructions about when to stop eating and drinking. Take the drugs your surgeon told you to take with a small sip of water.
After the Procedure. After you are discharged from the hospital, follow instructions on how to care for your skin graft, including: Wearing a dressing for 1 to 2 weeks. Ask your provider how you should care for the dressing, such as protecting it from getting wet. Protecting the graft from trauma for 3 to 4 weeks.
This includes avoiding being hit or doing any exercise that might injure or dislodge the graft. Getting physical therapy, if your surgeon recommends it. Outlook Prognosis. Most skin grafts are successful, but some do not heal well. You may need a second graft. Alternative Names. Skin grafting is a surgical procedure that involves removing skin from one area of the body and moving it, or transplanting it, to a different area of the body.
This surgery may be done if a part of your body has lost its protective covering of skin due to burns, injury, or illness. Skin grafts are performed in a hospital. A skin graft is placed over an area of the body where skin has been lost. Common reasons for a skin graft include:. A split-thickness graft involves removing the top layer of the skin — the epidermis — as well as a portion of the deeper layer of the skin, called the dermis. These layers are taken from the donor site, which is the area where the healthy skin is located.
Split-thickness skin grafts are usually harvested from the front or outer thigh, abdomen, buttocks, or back. Split-thickness grafts are used to cover large areas. These grafts tend to be fragile and typically have a shiny or smooth appearance. They may also appear paler than the adjoining skin. A full-thickness graft involves removing all of the epidermis and dermis from the donor site.
These are usually taken from the abdomen, groin, forearm, or area above the clavicle collarbone. Full-thickness grafts are generally used for small wounds on highly visible parts of the body, such as the face. Common donor sites for full-thickness skin grafts include the chest wall, neck, back, or abdominal wall.
Full-thickness grafts are done when a lot of tissue is lost. This can happen with open fractures of the lower leg, or after severe infections. You should recover quickly after split-thickness skin grafting. Full-thickness grafts need a longer recovery time. If you received this kind of graft, you may need to stay in the hospital for recovery.
After you are discharged from the hospital, follow instructions on how to care for your skin graft, including:. Plastic surgery.
Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. St Louis, MO: Elsevier; chap Ratner D, Nayyar PM. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Skin graft. Plastic Surgery, Volume 1: Principles. Editorial team. Description This surgery is usually done while you are under general anesthesia. Why the Procedure Is Performed Skin grafts may be recommended for: Areas where there has been infection that caused a large amount of skin loss Burns Cosmetic reasons or reconstructive surgeries where there has been skin damage or skin loss Skin cancer surgery Surgeries that need skin grafts to heal Venous ulcers, pressure ulcers , or diabetic ulcers that do not heal Very large wounds A wound that the surgeon has not been able to close properly Full-thickness grafts are done when a lot of tissue is lost.
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