Preparation for a Successful Skin Grafting

Abstract

In this chapter, we shall look into the pre-requisites for a successful skin grafting. This includes patient selection, identifying various factors—patient related, environment related, treatment related, and optimizing them for a successful outcome. Avoiding/removing the adverse factors and improving the wound bed environment require knowledge, experience, and checklist to be followed, so as not to miss any of these pre-requisites. This would ensure complete take of the skin graft, with good reconstructive and esthetic outcome. Various factors include patients\' general health, comorbidities, etiology of wound, duration and contamination, granulation tissue, local wound blood supply, wound sepsis, edema, vascular disease, wound bacteriology culture sensitivity, etc. The ultimate goal of improving success of skin grafting will lead to early recovery of patient, reducing hospital stay, burden on health infrastructure, and reduced loss of workdays, thereby reducing the socioeconomic impact of wound.