【Learning Key Points】
- Skin grafting surgery usually involves taking healthy skin from a certain part of the body (such as thighs, abdomen, back) to cover the skin defect, so that the wound can heal as quickly as possible and reduce the occurrence of secondary infections.
- Elevate the affected limb with a pillow according to the doctor's instructions to avoid pressure on the skin graft site and maintain proper fixation and support.
- Generally, the skin in the normal skin grafting area will survive after a week, but it still needs to be fixed with plaster or wood. It can only be removed after the doctor's evaluation, and activities should be restricted for more than two to three weeks to ensure complete healing of the skin in the skin grafting area.
I.preamble
In case of skin defect for which the wound cannot heal by itself and skin grafting is considered necessary according to the doctor, you should do the following:
II.The day before skin grafting is performed
- Fill the operation and anesthesia consent .
- Wash clean your whole body, and wash the part from which the skin is to be grafted with soap or disinfectant. If necessary, the hair on the part from which skin is to be grafted will be removed first.
- Do not eat or drink after midnight (except local anesthesia, you can eat according to the instruction of the doctor).
- Regularly practice deep breathing and coughing taught by the nurse to prevent pulmonary complications after the operation.
III.The day on which skin grafting is performed
- Do not eat or drink (except local anesthesia).
- Take off any jewelry, dentures, artificial eyes, nail polish, etc.
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Take off any jewelry, artificial eyes
| Take off nail polish
| Remove dentures
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- Take off your underwear and put on the operating gown only to wait for the notification from the operating room.
- An intravenous drip may be administered if necessary.
- Please go to the restroom first when staff members from the operating room come to pick you up.
IV.After skin grafting
- An IV catheter (drip) and urethral catheter may have to be used after the operation, so make sure they are fixed well and unobstructed.
- If you feel pain or discomfort please notify the medical staff at all times.
- Please elevate the operated limb with pillows according to the instruction of the doctor to prevent grafted skin from being pressed.
- As the part on which skin has been grafted may be secured using plaster, limit your movements and do not remove the plaster arbitrarily.
- If the skin is grafted to a lower limb, please stay in bed until the approval from the doctor.
- If the skin is grafted to the hip, you must use the prone positon and be very careful when change the positon,
- Please breathe deeply and cough as medical staff taught, and use steam inhalation to help productive cough when necessary.
- Nutrition advice : eat more high calorie and high protein food like fish, meat and eggs. Diabetic patients should consult the nutritionist.
- Smoking and drinking are absolutely prohibited ( including passive smoking).
- The donor grafted wound will heal after one week but still has to be dressed with elastic gauze or plaster. Besides, you should limit your activity for 2 to 3 weeks to ensure the healing of donor grafted wound.
- For patients with chronic disease or elderly, the donor wound heals slowly therefore the wound should be change dressing for a longer time.
- After the wound healed, the skin is relatively dry and you can use baby oil or Vaseline.
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Keep the tube open,
elevate the affected limb, and rest in bed | Skin grafted limbs fixed
with plaster
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Nutritional supplements
(high calorie,
high protein) | No smoking, no drinking
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- The substitute dressing on the donor grafted wound will fall off by itself after healing; do not tear it off to avoid skin damage.
- In case of abnormal swelling, pain or bleeding in the donor grafted, please immediately notify the medical staff.
- Consult the medical staff at any time if you have any problem.
V.Conclusion
After skin grafting surgery, you need to avoid strenuous exercise and stress as recommended by your doctor, maintain adequate rest and take in balanced nutrition, follow the wound care plan, and conduct regular follow-up examinations to ensure normal wound healing. At the same time, maintaining a good mental state will help restore physical and mental health.
VI.References
- Asuku, M., Yu, T. C., Yan, Q., Böing, E., Hahn, H., Hovland, S., & Donelan, M. B. (2021). Split-thickness skin graft donor-site morbidity: A systematic literature review. Burns, 47(7), 1525-1546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.33781633.
- Leon-Villapalos, J., &Dziewulski, D. (2022). Up To Date. Skin autografting. Retrieved Oct 03, 2022 from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/skin-autografting?search=skin%20autografting&source= search_result&selectedTitle=1~150&usage_type=default&display_rank=1#H1933287
- Morris, D. (2022). Overview of flaps for soft tissue reconstruction. Up To Date. Retrieved Feb 2, 2022 from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/overview-of-flaps-for-soft-tissue- reconstruction?search=skin%20free%20flap%20%20care&source=search_result&selectedTitle=1~150&usage_type=default&display_rank=1#H2098596553