13 feb 2012
The Safdarjung Hospital is working towards setting up a skin bank for patients with severe burns.
To this end, the hospital's department of burns, plastics and maxillofacial surgery will kickstart an awareness campaign for cadaver skin donation.
The hospital has already been saving the leftover grafts of skin used in research and experiments.
"The health ministry has recently approved the idea. The most important thing is to have awareness about cadaver skin donations in India. It's only seldom that someone turns up for skin donation," professor Dr V.K. Tiwari said on the first day of the 20th annual national conference of the National Academy of Burns (Nabicon) on Friday.
"Earlier, we could save the skin for use within three weeks. But now we will use special techniques to store it for up to a few years. Special gloves are needed to handle the skin... It's very delicate and mishandling can damage it," he added.
The conference focussed on raising awareness about skin donation in India. The three-day Nabicon 2012, besides discussing the global trends in burn care, had sessions on chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear disasters (CBRN) for the first time in India.
The hospital has also started the artificial skin transplantation procedures, but it is beyond the reach of poor patients.
"If a patient has suffered 60-70 per cent burns, they require skin implantation. The procedure to be followed is excision, that is cutting off the wound and covering it either with the patient's own skin or donated skin or artificial skin. The artificial skin available here is manufactured and patented by a US-based company and is quite expensive. So the best option is to store and transplant the donated skin. The concept of skin banking will help people who lack resources," Adiva Hospital consultant for plastic and aesthetic surgery Dr Monisha Kapoor said.
The skin bank would be established under the ministry's pilot project for burns, called the National Burns Prevention Programme.
Doctors say lives of many burn victims can be saved if a barrier is created by grafting new skin, taken from the cadaver donors. The donated skin is processed and stored in a skin bank before transplantation.
"People have a lot of misconceptions regarding skin donation. They think that the body is disfigured and spoilt after the donation, but it is not true. Only the outermost layer of skin from the thighs and the back is removed from the cadaver. We will kickstart the promotion and tell people that many lives can be saved by skin donation," Dr Tiwari said.
"According to the national burn registry, around seven million people suffer burns every year and one out of 100 requires hospitalisation. This programme will benefit many people and, most importantly, can provide skin to other cities as well in liquid nitrogen flasks," he added.
There are 43 burn centres in India with only 726 beds. As many as 64 of these beds are at Safdarjung Hospital.
indiatoday
Skin bank for burns victims at Delhi hospital
You can even donate your skin for the benefit of patients now.
To this end, the hospital's department of burns, plastics and maxillofacial surgery will kickstart an awareness campaign for cadaver skin donation.
The hospital has already been saving the leftover grafts of skin used in research and experiments.
"The health ministry has recently approved the idea. The most important thing is to have awareness about cadaver skin donations in India. It's only seldom that someone turns up for skin donation," professor Dr V.K. Tiwari said on the first day of the 20th annual national conference of the National Academy of Burns (Nabicon) on Friday.
"Earlier, we could save the skin for use within three weeks. But now we will use special techniques to store it for up to a few years. Special gloves are needed to handle the skin... It's very delicate and mishandling can damage it," he added.
The conference focussed on raising awareness about skin donation in India. The three-day Nabicon 2012, besides discussing the global trends in burn care, had sessions on chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear disasters (CBRN) for the first time in India.
The hospital has also started the artificial skin transplantation procedures, but it is beyond the reach of poor patients.
"If a patient has suffered 60-70 per cent burns, they require skin implantation. The procedure to be followed is excision, that is cutting off the wound and covering it either with the patient's own skin or donated skin or artificial skin. The artificial skin available here is manufactured and patented by a US-based company and is quite expensive. So the best option is to store and transplant the donated skin. The concept of skin banking will help people who lack resources," Adiva Hospital consultant for plastic and aesthetic surgery Dr Monisha Kapoor said.
The skin bank would be established under the ministry's pilot project for burns, called the National Burns Prevention Programme.
Doctors say lives of many burn victims can be saved if a barrier is created by grafting new skin, taken from the cadaver donors. The donated skin is processed and stored in a skin bank before transplantation.
"People have a lot of misconceptions regarding skin donation. They think that the body is disfigured and spoilt after the donation, but it is not true. Only the outermost layer of skin from the thighs and the back is removed from the cadaver. We will kickstart the promotion and tell people that many lives can be saved by skin donation," Dr Tiwari said.
"According to the national burn registry, around seven million people suffer burns every year and one out of 100 requires hospitalisation. This programme will benefit many people and, most importantly, can provide skin to other cities as well in liquid nitrogen flasks," he added.
There are 43 burn centres in India with only 726 beds. As many as 64 of these beds are at Safdarjung Hospital.
indiatoday
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