Initial Experience with a New Epidermal Harvesting System: Overview of Epidermal Grafting and Case Series
Abstract: Introduction: Skin grafts have long been an important tool in reconstructive surgery. However, traditional autografts have several disadvantages, including the need for a surgical procedure with anesthesia, creation of a second wound at the donor site, difficulty in obtaining uniform graft thickness, scarring, and pain. Epidermal skin grafts offer an alternative to split- and full-thickness skin grafts in that only the epidermal skin layer is removed at the donor site, resulting in minimal to no bleeding, minimal scarring and donor site pain, improved cosmetic outcome, and no need for anesthesia. Although epidermal grafts have been successfully used for many decades in treating pigmentation disorders, its expanded use for wounds has been limited largely due to lack of a reliable method of harvesting patient epidermal skin. We present our experience using a new automated, epidermal harvesting system to harvest epidermal grafts in patients with multiple comorbidities; an overview of the history and mechanisms of epidermal grafting is Authors: Allen Gabriel, MD, FACS, Chief of Plastic Surgery, Rachel V. Sobota, RN, CNOR, RNFA, Manish Champaneria, MD, PeaceHealth Medical Group Plastic Surgery, Vancouver, WA, Rachel Sobota, RN, PeaceHealth Medical Group Plastic Surgery, Vancouver, WA |
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