Chennai: The state government will soon set up the first-of-its- kind skin bank on the lines of the National Burns Centre in Mumbai to help those suffering burn injuries. A team of doctors from Kilpauk Medical College will visit the skin bank at the NBS to learn the latest technology used and its operations. The NBS in Mumbai was the first one in the country to set up a skin bank facility in 2009. Dr Gunasekaran, dean of KMC, and a member of the team, said, “The team consisting of a microbiologist, head of department of plastic surgery and others will visit the centre on September 27 to get an idea about the skin bank and how skin is harvested and protected, how cadaveric skin can be stored and the percentage of glycerol used in storage and so on.”
Once the team submits its report, the health department will take initiatives to start the skin bank. Doctors say that given the number of self-immolation cases reported in the state, skin donation would save many victims from death. As per NCRB statistics in 2013, Tamil Nadu topped the list of self-immolation cases with 2,349, of which 1,481 were women. Dr J. Jaganmohan, head of the department of burns and plastic surgery at Kilpauk Medical College, said there was no skin bank in the government sector and in future, skin graft would become quite popular.
Infection is one of the main reasons for high mortality among burn victims and plastic surgeons say that infection does not occur only from the outside environment. “The victims should eat well. Since immunity goes down, one is more prone to infection,” said Dr Jaganmohan.
Right Hospital started its skin bank facility last year and till now, has stored 11,000 sq cm skin. Of the 14 people who donated skin, two died of natural causes and the rest are brain dead patients. “We can’t take skin from all over the body; only from the lower limbs as it’s concealed. People generally hesitate to donate their dear one’s skin from the face, chest and the abdomen. We can take 1500 to 2000 sq.cm of skin from a person,” said Dr G. Balakrishnan, founder of Right Hospital that started a skin bank last year.
A total of 60 people have pledged skin donation with the skin bank. A special machine called dermatome is used at the skin bank. Imported from Germany, the cost of the machine alone is Rs 12 lakh. As soon as the hospital receives information about willing donors, a team reaches the donor’s hospital and using the machine, skin from the donor is removed. After this, skin is sent to culture at the lab to find out whether it is worth preserving. “We create a mesh using the skin and store it accordingly,” said the plastic surgeon.
