Coimbatore :

Considering that more than 500 people die annually in the city from burn injuries, a local hospital has set up a skin bank which will go a long way in bringing these numbers down. The second skin bank in the state, it will harvest cadaver skin and use it as a biological dressing for burn victims.

The government hospital sees at least two to three new admissions to the burns ward daily, with at least half of them suffering from more than 50 per cent burns. “Mortality is very high among patients who come in with 50% or more burns, because they lose proteins and fluids. With much of their bodies exposed, they usually get an infection and die,” says the assistant resident medical officer, Dr A Soundaravel.

This skin bank will provide cadaveric skin, as a more affordable replacement to collagenic grafts, which will be used to cover exposed parts. “Such skin grafts can remain on the body for up to three weeks, by which time the patient starts recovering,” says Dr S Raja Sabapathy, who has set up the skin bank at Ganga Hospital. “The main advantage of skin grafting is prevention of infections, the main cause of death,” he adds.

So far, doctors have been grafting skin from other parts of the patient’s body itself or large collagen strips are placed on the exposed parts to quicken the healing process. “But collagen strips are expensive. A small 10cm x 10cm piece costs Rs500, and might have to be repeatedly grafted every week,” says Dr Jayaraman, professor and HOD of plastic surgery at Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital (KMCH).

However, the success of a skin bank depends on the number of donors. So far, the state cadaver transplant program, considered the best in the country, has seen just 11 skin donations. “That is because we started taking donations only in the past one year, after Chennai-based Rights Hospital set up a skin bank,” said Dr J Amalorpavanathan, coordinator of the program. “Once Ganga Hospital’s skin bank gets registered, we will send out circulars to all the organ donation counsellors in the city to request for skin donations,” added Dr Amalorpavanathan.

While doctors say that people may be apprehensive about donating skin, the increasing organ donations are an encouraging sign. “People are more willing to donate organs than skin since the former is not visible,” says S R Vijaylakshmi, former HOD of Burns ward at KMCH. grafts include removing only the top layer of skin, within six hours of death. “The process of removing the skin with a Dermatom takes only 20 minutes,” says Dr Raja Sabapathy. “It can be placed on a person’s body without worrying about gender, blood groups or HLA matching because it is just a bio-dressing,” he says.

“Since skin can be donated after death, we are going to partner with eye donation groups,” says Dr Raja Sabapathy.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Pratiksha Ramkumar, TNN / December 10th, 2014