Every eye donor can be a potential skin donor, say doctors. Compared to the significant number of eye donations, skin donations have had a slow start. But, over the last one year, skin donations are slowly picking up, including in the government sector in Chennai.
For plastic surgeons, this is a good sign as cadaver skin serves as a temporary biological cover especially for persons with major burn injuries, helping in healing. But certain misconceptions stand in the way of skin donations, raising the need for more awareness.
“The concept of skin donations is definitely picking up. The number of donors is not yet to the expected level. There are still questions in the minds of people on skin donations. Any person with major burns will benefit from cadaver skin. We need to create awareness among people,” said Angeline Selvaraj, professor of Plastic Surgery, Government Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital.
KMC has started a skin bank at its biomaterial centre early this year and has eight donors till date.
Giving an example, S. Raja Sabapathy, chairman of Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore said, “Eye banks in Coimbatore gets three to four pairs of eyes a day. But we get four to five skin donations per month. It will take time; say a few years to make people aware about skin donations. Right now, it is an encouraging trend. Since 2015 to date, we have had 164 donors.”
Skin can be retrieved from brain dead persons, and from those who die of natural causes within six hours of death. Viral infections, skin diseases and malignancies are contraindications for skin donations, doctors said.
G. Balakrishnan, medical director of Right Hospitals, where a skin bank was established in 2014, said families think twice to donate skin of their deceased relative due to the fear of disfigurement. “Not many know that skin is retrieved from the hidden parts, particularly from the thighs, and is superficial. The harvested skin is screened for infectious organisms and can be stored in glycerol for five years,” he explained. About 60 persons have pledged for skin donation here.
Dr. Selvaraj added that 0.6 to 0.8 mm of skin is retrieved from donors, mainly from the hidden areas of the thighs. Around 1,500 to 1,800 square centimetres of skin is retrieved from an individual.
V. Ramadevi, head, Department of Plastic Surgery, Government Stanley Medical College Hospital that has a skin bank, said, “When we provide temporary skin cover for those with burn injuries, we can prevent septicaemia and metabolic imbalances. Dressing wounds daily can be a painful procedure, and using cadaver skin can reduce the pain.”
People should be sensitised to skin donations, and willingness would improve in the future, added P. Vasanthamani, dean of KMC.