Skin Grafting
What is Skin Grafting?
Skin grafting is a surgical procedure that involves transplanting skin from a donor site to a recipient site to repair defects caused by burns, trauma, chronic wounds, or surgical excision (e.g., cancer). It’s a key technique in reconstructive surgery, often used when primary closure or flaps aren’t feasible. In India, skin grafting is conducted in plastic surgery or burn units at hospitals like Apollo, Fortis, Medanta, Safdarjung Hospital, and AIIMS, often at affordable costs. Understanding the procedure, costs, recovery, risks, and FAQs is essential for patients.
Why do you need Skin Grafting?
Skin grafting is indicated for:
- Reconstruction needs:
- Burns (e.g., third-degree, as in burn reconstruction you asked about; 20–30% of severe burns require grafts).
- Chronic wounds (e.g., diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers).
- Post-surgical defects (e.g., after skin cancer excision).
- Trauma (e.g., degloving injuries, large lacerations).
- Functional restoration:
- Prevent contractures (tight scars restricting movement).
- Restore skin barrier to prevent infection.
- Cosmetic improvement:
- Improve appearance of large scars or defects (though grafts may not match surrounding skin perfectly).
- Timing:
- Immediate: During acute treatment (e.g., burns).
- Delayed: After wound bed preparation (e.g., 1–2 weeks post-debridement for chronic wounds).
The procedure aims to cover defects, promote healing, and restore function by transplanting skin, ensuring graft survival through proper adherence and blood supply integration.
Why Do Skin Grafting Costs Vary in India?
Costs range from ₹30,000 to ₹1.5 lakh:
- Procedure Complexity: Small STSG (₹30,000–₹50,000); large STSG or FTSG (₹50,000–₹1.5 lakh).
- Hospital/Location: Higher in metro cities (Apollo, Fortis: ₹50,000–₹1.5 lakh); lower in government hospitals (Safdarjung, AIIMS: ₹10,000–₹40,000, often subsidized under Ayushman Bharat).
- Surgeon’s Expertise: Experienced plastic surgeons charge more.
- Additional Costs: Anesthesia (₹5,000–₹15,000), hospital stay (₹5,000–₹15,000/day), graft materials (₹5,000–₹20,000), medications (₹5,000–₹10,000).
- Insurance: Often covered for reconstructive purposes (e.g., burns, trauma); confirm with your provider.
Skin Grafting Procedure
- Before Surgery Evaluation:
- Assessment:
- Physical exam: Evaluates defect size, depth, and wound bed (must be clean, infection-free).
- Blood tests: Blood sugar, clotting profile; infection screening.
- Photos: For surgical planning and comparison.
- Planning: Graft type (split-thickness vs. full-thickness), donor site selection (e.g., thigh, buttock).
- Consent: Risks, including graft failure, are explained.
- Assessment:
- Surgical Techniques:
- Skin Grafting:
- Performed under general anesthesia (large grafts) or local anesthesia (small grafts), lasting 1–3 hours.
- Graft types:
- Split-thickness skin graft (STSG): Includes epidermis and partial dermis; harvested from thigh or buttock; used for large areas (e.g., burns).
- Full-thickness skin graft (FTSG): Includes epidermis and entire dermis; harvested from areas with excess skin (e.g., groin, behind ear); used for smaller defects (e.g., face, hands).
- Process:
- Recipient site: Wound debrided to healthy tissue; granulation tissue ensures graft take.
- Donor site: Skin harvested using a dermatome (STSG) or scalpel (FTSG); donor site closed (FTSG) or dressed (STSG, heals by re-epithelialization).
- Graft application: Graft placed on recipient site; meshed (STSG, allows expansion and drainage) or unmeshed (FTSG, better cosmesis).
- Securing: Graft sutured or stapled; bolster dressing or vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) applied to ensure contact.
- Intraoperative Tools:
- Dermatome: Harvests STSG.
- Scalpel: Harvests FTSG.
- VAC device: Promotes graft adherence.
- Skin Grafting:
- After Surgery:
- Hospital stay: 3–7 days (longer for large grafts).
- Care: Keep graft immobile for 5–7 days; bolster dressing removed at 5 days; donor site dressed (e.g., with paraffin gauze).
- Pain management: Moderate pain for 3–5 days; managed with painkillers (e.g., ibuprofen).
- Instructions: Avoid tension on graft; physiotherapy if near joints to prevent contractures.
Recovery After Skin Grafting
- Hospital Stay: 3–7 days.
- Post-Surgery Care:
- Pain/Swelling: Moderate pain for 3–5 days; swelling resolves in 1–2 weeks.
- Graft: Bolster removed at 5–7 days; graft checked for take (pink color indicates success); avoid trauma.
- Donor site: STSG heals in 2–3 weeks (new skin grows); FTSG closed with sutures, heals in 1–2 weeks.
- Activity: Avoid strenuous activity for 4–6 weeks; light activities in 1–2 weeks.
- Scar care: Silicone sheets for 3–6 months on donor/recipient sites to minimize scarring.
- Follow-Up:
- Visits at 1 week (bolster removal), 1 month, and 3 months.
- Functional assessment: At 3–6 months if near joints (e.g., ROM).
Initial healing takes 2–4 weeks; full integration and scar maturation take 6–12 months. Success rate: 90–95% graft take with proper technique; functional restoration achieved in 85–90% of cases.
Risks and Complications
- Surgical Risks:
- Bleeding (2–5%): Hematoma under graft; may lead to graft failure.
- Infection (3–5%): At graft or donor site; treated with antibiotics; may cause graft loss.
- Anesthesia risks (<1%): Reaction to anesthesia; rare in healthy patients.
- Post-Surgery:
- Graft failure (5–10%): Poor adherence or infection; needs regrafting.
- Contracture (5–10%): If physiotherapy neglected; may need revision or Z-plasty.
- Donor site issues (2–5%): Delayed healing, scarring, or pain; managed with dressings.
- Color mismatch (5–10%): Graft may not match surrounding skin; more common with STSG.
- Long-Term:
- Scarring (5–10%): Hypertrophic or keloid scars at donor/recipient site; managed with silicone sheets or laser.
- Sensory changes (2–5%): Numbness or hypersensitivity; often improves over time.
Report fever, graft discoloration (pale/black), severe pain, or signs of infection (e.g., redness, pus) promptly.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What causes the need for skin grafting?
Tissue loss from burns, trauma, chronic wounds, or surgery (e.g., cancer excision) requiring skin coverage.
Can I avoid skin grafting?
Yes, if small: Primary closure or non-surgical wound care (e.g., dressings); grafts needed for large defects or deep wounds.
Is skin grafting painful?
Moderate pain for 3–5 days, managed with medication; discomfort subsides in 1–2 weeks.
How soon can I resume normal activities?
Light activities: 1–2 weeks; full recovery: 4–6 weeks; avoid strenuous activity for 4–6 weeks.
Is skin grafting covered by insurance in India?
Often covered for reconstructive purposes; confirm with your provider; Ayushman Bharat often subsidizes.
Signs of complications?
Fever, graft discoloration, severe pain, or signs of infection.
Will the graft look natural?
85–90% achieve functional coverage; cosmetic match varies—STSG may look patchy, FTSG blends better.
Lifestyle changes post-surgery?
Avoid graft trauma, use silicone sheets, adhere to physiotherapy, and attend follow-ups.
Conclusion
Skin grafting is a reliable reconstructive procedure to repair defects and restore function, with high success rates in experienced hands. India’s top hospitals (Apollo, Fortis, Safdarjung) provide affordable care, often covered by insurance for reconstructive cases. Understanding the procedure, costs, recovery, risks, and FAQs helps patients approach surgery confidently. Consult a plastic surgeon for personalized guidance.
Looking for Best Hospitals for Skin grafting
Note: we are not promoting any hospitals
we are not promoting any hospitals we sourced all the details from google and hospitals website, please verify and start with your surgery here we go the list includes government, budget and superspeciality hospitals accreditation bodies are the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) and the Joint Commission International (JCI)
- click on your city and schedule your surgery now done in good hands.
| City | Minimum Price (₹) | Maximum Price (₹) |
|---|---|---|
Agra |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Ahmedabad |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Ajmer |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Aligarh |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Allahabad |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Amritsar |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Aurangabad |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Bangalore |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Bareilly |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Belgaum |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Bhopal |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Bhubaneswar |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Bikaner |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Chandigarh |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Chennai |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Coimbatore |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Dehradun |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Delhi |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Dhanbad |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Durgapur |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Faridabad |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Ghaziabad |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Gorakhpur |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Guntur |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Gurgaon |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Guwahati |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Gwalior |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Hyderabad |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Indore |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Jabalpur |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Jaipur |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Jalandhar |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Jamshedpur |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Jodhpur |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Kanpur |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Kochi |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Kolkata |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Kollam |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Lucknow |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Ludhiana |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Madurai |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Mangalore |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Meerut |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Moradabad |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Mumbai |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Mysore |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Nagpur |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Nashik |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Navi Mumbai |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Noida |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Patna |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Pune |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Raipur |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Rajkot |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Ranchi |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Surat |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Thane |
50,000 |
1,50,000 |
Vadodara |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Varanasi |
30,000 |
1,20,000 |
Visakhapatnam |
40,000 |
1,35,000 |
Disclaimer
This information is sourced from open platforms and is for general awareness only. Costs may vary based on individual cases. Please consult a qualified doctor for medical advice and explore options within your budget before deciding on the procedure.