Care of a Skin Graft

A skin graft is used to help heal burned, wounded or ulcerated skin that cannot regenerate on its own. The skin used for the graft can be taken from another area of the body or from other sources, such as a cadaver or animal, most commonly a pig. The most common type of skin graft is a split-thickness graft that is taken from the top layer and the middle layer of the skin but some skin grafts include all of the layers of the skin.

Dressing

• After a skin graft, the doctor will dress the graft with ointment and mesh gauze. The gauze is used to apply pressure to the skin graft and may be attached to healthy skin near the graft or wrapped around an appendage such as a finger or a leg. Bandages or casts may be used to cover the skin graft depending on where it is and the type of graft used.

Care

• Always follow the doctor's instructions for caring for the skin graft. The original dressing may be kept in place for up to a week and then will require new dressings, often daily, until the site is healed.

  Keep the skin graft clean, dry and covered to reduce the risk of trauma and exposure to prolonged sunlight. Check the graft often for signs of infection which include redness and pain.

Complications

• The patient's body may reject a skin graft and not allow it to heal. The graft can become infected or fall off.

  Other complications include: blood clots, blood collecting under the graft, decreased sensation, lack of hair growth and scarring.