OGH to have first skin bank in Telangana

The bank will harvest skin from deceased donors and use it to revive burn and trauma patients

Hyderabad: Osmania General Hospital (OGH) is set to become the first healthcare facility in the Telugu speaking States to have a state-of-the-art skin bank, which will harvest skin from deceased donors and use it to revive burn and trauma patients.

The first of its kind facility, which will be inaugurated on Monday, June 28, at the department of Plastic Surgery, OGH, has the potential to save lives of burn victims in Telangana, who do not survive if the percentage loss of body skin is more than 50 percent.

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Last year, OGH witnessed 700 burn-related admissions out of which 300 victims suffered from more than 50 percent burns. Out of the 300 burn patients, the doctors at OGH could manage to save lives of just 55 victims while the rest died due to burn-related complications. The high rate of mortality of burn patients can be reduced by harvesting skin from deceased donors, preserving it in the skin bank and later using it to save needy patients.

The skin bank at OGH will harvest skin from deceased donors after receiving consent from relatives of the dead person. The skin will be processed and preserved in a skin bank and later distributed to needy burn patients, based on organ donation guidelines.

Once a person is dead, just like relatives donate the eyes of the deceased, they also can decide to donate skin, which will be harvested by trained personnel at the OGH skin bank. The trained personnel at the OGH skin bank will ensure that the relatives are not left with a bleeding or disfigured body.

The upcoming skin bank, developed at a cost of Rs 60 lakh over a space of 1,400 square feet through donations from Rotary Club of Hyderabad (East), has modern high-end equipment to store donated skin in temperatures of 4 degree Celsius to 5 degree Celsius for a period of at least 5 years.

“There are only 15 skin banks in India and all of them are concentrated in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Odisha. Skin bank is a new concept for people in Telangana but we are hoping that spreading awareness through community involvement will help in improving the acceptance levels,” says Assistant Professor, Plastic Surgery, OGH, Dr Madhusudhan.

The doctors at the skin bank will be able to utilise the donated skin to cover the burnt area immediately and allow the patient to recover. In India, there is nearly 100 percent mortality among victims with above 50 percent of burns because they do not have enough unaffected skin left that can be harvested and used to cover burn wounds.

“There are synthetic skin substitutes to cover the wounds. However, they are unaffordable for poor burn patients, who are admitted to OGH. In the absence of skin grafts, we need to frequently change dressing, which leads to complications and patient’s skin does not regenerate. This is where, the skin bank will be able to save lives,” Dr Madhusudhan explains.

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