Skin bank

Karnataka recently got its first skin bank, the sixth in the country. It was inaugurated at the State-run Victoria Hospital.

• Doctors hope that the skin bank may help save the lives of countless burn victims, as harvested skin is the best form of “biological dressing” available today.
• Although artificial skin is available, it is prohibitively expensive. The government has agreed to fund all skin grafts done at the skin bank. A nominal charge may be executed.

Working of the skin bank:

• Like any other organ donation, skin donation needs to be pledged by a living person or needs to be offered for donation by the family soon after death.
• The skin is harvested within 6 hours of death either at hospital or home. The harvesting is done from hidden areas such as the back and the thigh with no bleeding or deformity to the body. The skin donation does not hamper the rituals of last rites.
• The process is fairly simple and takes less than 45 minutes. The donor could be anyone above 16 years of age.
• The donor should not have skin disease or skin cancer and should be negative for HIV and Hepatitis C.
• No blood group matching is required.
• The harvested skin is processed and stored as per international protocol in the skin bank ready for dispensing and safe use in burns care as the best biological dressing. This dressing not only saves the life but also relieves the pain, reduces infection increasing chances of survival significantly, especially when the burn area exceeds 40%.