Coming up soon at KGMU: UP’s first skin bank for burn injury patients

The skin bank is coming up on the about 1500 sq feet area at KGMU for which the civil work has begun and shall be completed in a month

State’s first skin bank that will help serve burn injury patients will come up in Lucknow’s King George’s Medical University (KGMU).

A skin bank is a place where skin from a donor, mostly people who wish to donate organs after death, is harvested and preserved (File photo)

The skin bank is being developed using Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund.

A skin bank is a place where skin from a donor, mostly people who wish to donate organs after death, is harvested and preserved. “Such preserved skin is used for grafting upon patients with severe burn injuries,” said Prof Vijay Kumar, HoD, plastic surgery at KGMU, where the bank is coming up.

In many severe burn cases, there is no place on the body from where skin can be extracted to cover the deep burn injuries. In deep burn injuries, covering the wound with a skin graft becomes significant as it allows the wound to heal faster, he said.

The bank is coming up on the second floor of the department building and is about 1500 sq feet in area. The civil work has begun and shall be completed in a month. Post the civil work, the equipment for harvesting and preserving the skin will be installed, which shall take another three months.

“In the first phase, we will use cryoprotective glycerol to preserve skin for up to three weeks and then with the help of deep freezers, we plan to preserve the same for up to three months,” said Prof Kumar.

In India, he said, there are half a dozen skin banks but none in Uttar Pradesh. With a skin bank patients who have severe or deep burn injuries will get help in speedy recovery.

“Having a skin bank in the state will certainly help patients who need a skin graft after burn injury. In absence of a skin bank, the patients have to stay more in hospital as treatment of burn injury is difficult and, in many cases, not possible at home,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary-general association of international doctors.

“The graft provided with the harvested skin is rejected by the patient’s body but by the time rejection takes place a new skin of the patient’s own body starts developing, thereby the deep wound heal is made possible,” said Prof Kumar.

The department has a burn ward with over 30-beds, and the occupancy rate is about a dozen at present. “Burn injuries take time to heal hence a patient once admitted in hospital/burn ward may stay for weeks,” said Prof Kumar.

What is a skin bank?

Skin banking is a method under which skin is removed from a donor body, packaged and stored. The bank provides the same stored skin to be reused as a graft in patients with burn injuries. The process is similar to a blood bank, where blood is donated and stored for use in needy patients.