U.P’s first skin bank for burn injury patients to open at KGMU soon

In deep burn injuries, covering the wound with a skin graft becomes significant as it allows the wound to heal faster. Therefore, the bank is coming up in about 1,500 sq feet in area.

LUCKNOW City-based King George’s Medical University (KGMU) would soon open the state’s first skin bank to facilitate the treatment of patients with burn injuries. The bank will save such patients from life-threatening situations.

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

“The infrastructure is ready. We have even started the process to procure equipment and get licence for the skin bank. All this will be completed in phases in a few weeks from now,” said Professor Vijay Kumar, HoD plastic surgery at 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. The skin bank is a valuable resource in providing allograft skin as a cover for partial or full thickness burn injuries.

“Our burn ward is occupied fully at any given time as the need for skin graft is increasing due to a rise in serious accidents,” said Professor Kumar. Once operational, the skin bank staff will coordinate with the families of brain-dead patients who are going for organ donation. Just as kidneys, liver, and cornea are obtained by a medical team, the skin will also be received and stored under temperature-controlled equipment after being lab tested.

The kidney and liver cannot be stored and hence, are transplanted within a few hours after obtaining them from donor. Cornea and skin can be stored. “The skin will be provided to burn injury patients after matching the skin type. A skin graft not only helps in speedy recovery but also saves patients from further infection as it might happen in open wound,” said Prof Kumar.

He added, “In many burn patients, their own skin is obtained from the body portion where the skin is in good condition, and grafted to cover the wound and help in speedy healing. However, in several cases, patient’s body is burnt in such a manner that their own skin cannot be used. Here, skin bank will play a crucial role and provide skin to cover wound.”

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. Therefore, the bank is coming up in about 1,500 sq feet in area.

“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.

“In absence of a skin bank, the patients have to stay longer in hospitals 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.

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

What is a skin bank?

In skin banks, the 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 severe burn injuries. The process is similar to a blood bank, where blood is donated and stored for use in needy patients. Skin banks harvest and preserve donated skin.