Why are skin grafts used?

a Skin Graft is a type of medical grafting involving the transplantation of skin. The transplanted tissue is called a skin graft. Skin Grafting is often used to treat:

-Extensive wounding or trauma

-Burns

-Areas of extensive skin loss due to infection such as necrotizing fasciitis or purpura fulminans

-Specific surgeries that may require skin grafts for healing to occur.

Skin Grafts are often employed after serious injuries when some of the bodys skin is damaged. Surgical removal of the damaged skin is followed by skin grafting. There are 2 types of skin grafts: the more common type is where a thin layer is removed from a healthy part of the body like peeling a potato, OR a full thickness skin graft, which involves pitching and cutting skin away from donor section. A full thickness graft is more risky, in terms of the body accepting the skin, yet it leaves only a scar line on the donor section, similar to a Ceasarean section scar.