Name of the Procedure:

Harvest of skin for tissue cultured skin autograft (100 sq cm or less)

Summary

In this procedure, a small piece of your skin is removed and used to grow new skin cells in a lab. Once the cells have grown, they can be transplanted back onto areas of your body that need new skin.

Purpose

This procedure is used to treat severe burns, chronic wounds, and other significant skin damage. The goal is to replace damaged or missing skin with new, healthy tissue grown from the patient's own cells.

Indications

• Severe burns covering large areas of the body
• Chronic non-healing wounds, such as diabetic ulcers
• Traumatic injuries resulting in significant skin loss

Preparation

• Follow fasting instructions if anesthesia will be used.
• Adjust medications as recommended by your doctor.
• Undergo required diagnostic tests, such as blood work or skin biopsies, to ensure suitability for the procedure.

Procedure Description

1. Anesthesia: You may receive local or general anesthesia depending on the size of the skin harvest.
2. Skin Harvest: A small area of skin, typically less than 100 square centimeters, is removed using a special surgical tool.
3. Culturing: The harvested skin cells are sent to a lab, where they are cultured to grow additional skin tissue.
4. Transplantation: Once the skin cells have sufficiently multiplied, the new tissue is transplanted back to cover the damaged areas requiring repair.

Duration

The skin harvest itself usually takes less than 30 minutes. However, the entire process, including cell culturing, can take several weeks.

Setting

Often performed in a hospital or surgical center, particularly if general anesthesia is required.

Personnel

• Surgeons specialized in reconstructive or plastic surgery
• Nurses
• Anesthesiologists (if general anesthesia is used)
• Laboratory technicians for culturing the skin cells

Risks and Complications

• Infection at the harvest site
• Scarring or changes in skin pigmentation
• Failure of the cultured skin to graft properly
• Pain or discomfort

Benefits

• Effective treatment for extensive skin damage
• Uses patient’s own cells, reducing the risk of rejection
• Can significantly improve the healing of chronic or severe wounds

Recovery

• Follow post-procedure care instructions to prevent infection at the harvest site.
• Expect some discomfort or pain, which can usually be managed with medication.
• Recovery time varies but generally ranges from a few days to a couple of weeks for the harvest site, while the transplanted skin area may take longer to heal completely.

Alternatives

• Skin grafts from donor sites on the patient’s own body
• Synthetic or animal-derived skin substitutes
• Conservative management with dressings and wound care

Patient Experience

During the procedure, you might feel minor discomfort if local anesthesia is used. Post-procedure, you may experience some pain at the harvest site, which can be managed with prescribed pain relief. The transplanted area will be closely monitored to ensure proper healing, and follow-up appointments will be necessary to track progress.