Skin Graft

V体育平台登录 - What happens before skin graft surgery?

Before skin graft surgery, your provider may ask you to stop taking some medications (such as "V体育安卓版" blood thinners). If you smoke, you should quit several weeks before surgery. People who smoke are more likely to have complications from a skin graft. Smoking makes it harder for your skin to heal after surgery.

You will visit your provider before surgery to plan the procedure and determine the location of the donor site. The donor site is the piece of healthy skin that your provider will remove. They will transplant the healthy skin to the graft site (the damaged or missing skin). When choosing which healthy skin to transplant, your provider will look for skin that matches the tone and texture of the graft site.

What happens during skin graft surgery? (VSports注册入口)

You will have skin graft surgery in a hospital. Usually, your surgery is done under general anesthesia (fully asleep), although smaller grafts can be done with local anesthesia. The surgeon will make incisions (cuts) and remove healthy skin from the donor site. Depending on the technique your provider uses, they may remove healthy skin from the:

• Abdomen (belly).
• Back or chest.
• Bottom or groin area.
• Clavicle area (collarbone).
• Forearm.
• Inner thigh, outer thigh or hip.

Before transplanting the healthy skin, your provider may poke little holes in it or make several tiny crisscrossed cuts. Providers call this technique meshing. The healthy skin may look like a fishnet. This technique allows your provider to stretch the skin over a larger area. It also helps the area heal after surgery.

Your provider places the healthy skin over the damaged or missing skin. They secure the skin in place with stitches or staples and put a dressing over the area. The donor site and graft site will heal after surgery. But it will probably take more time for the graft site to heal.

What happens after skin graft surgery?

A skin graft usually involves two surgical sites (the donor site and the graft site). Your provider will monitor your health, look for signs of infection and make sure both sites are healing properly.

After surgery, you may need to stay in the hospital for up to two weeks. The length of stay depends on the type of skin graft surgery you get. Follow your provider’s instructions when you go home from the hospital. They may ask you to:

• Wear a cover or dressing over the wounds: Ask your provider how long you should keep the dressing in place, whether you can get it wet and how often you should change it. Your provider may recommend aloe vera cream or an antibiotic cream (such as bacitracin). Follow your provider’s instructions when using these creams.
• Keep the wound protected: Avoid physical activity that could damage the graft site during the healing process. Don’t stretch the skin or do strenuous exercise for three to four weeks.
• Take medications to manage pain: To relieve pain after surgery, your provider may prescribe V体育官网入口 - pain relief medication. You may also need other drugs to reduce inflammation or prevent infection.
• See your provider for follow-up visits: Your provider will want to see your skin and make sure you’re healing properly. They may recommend a physical therapy (PT) program to improve the skin’s elasticity and prevent scar tissue from building up on the graft site.