Skin flap transplantation is widely used in plastic surgery today. Closure of large wounds with skin grafts allows for the best cosmetic effect. Such wounds can result from exposure to various traumatic agents, such as burns or mechanical trauma. Quite often, skin transplantation has to be performed in patients who have undergone surgery to remove neoplasms on the skin. Properly transplanted skin has certain characteristics that indicate its survival, which are described in more detail by estet-portal.com.

Key characteristics of transplanted skin: color, contraction and sensitivity

When performing a skin graft transplant, a plastic surgeon pursues the main goal: closing the surface of a skin defect with the achievement of a maximum aesthetic effect. Of course, the transplanted skin is somewhat different from the skin of the affected area, so the characteristics of the area from which the graft is taken should be as similar as possible to the characteristics of the recipient zone. The transplanted skin retains its original properties, which include its color, contraction, sensitivity, as well as the functioning of the adnexal structures of the skin.

Transplanted skin:

  • primary and secondary contraction of grafted skin;
  • the color of the transplanted skin depends on the donor area;
  • functioning of adnexal structures of transplanted skin.

Primary and secondary contraction of grafted skin

The contraction of transplanted skin can be of two types: primary and secondary. The primary reduction in the size of the graft occurs immediately after it has been taken. This contraction is compensated by stretching the graft when it is sutured to the recipient bed. Secondary contraction occurs as a result of scarring of the tissue that is located between the skin graft and the recipient bed.  Its nature depends on the following factors:

  • graft thickness: the thicker the graft, the less it undergoes secondary contraction;
  • Rigidity of the recipient bed: the more rigid the bed, the less the graft contracts;
  • graft survival: complete healing of the grafted skin reduces contraction.

The color of the transplanted skin depends on the donor area

The color of the transplanted skin depends primarily on the area from which the transplant was taken.  Grafts taken from the supraclavicular region retain their normal pink color. Full-thickness grafts from the eyelids, posterior and anterior regions have the most similar color to the skin of the face. Immediately after transplantation, such grafts appear reddish, but over time they turn pale. Transplanted skin from the subclavian region acquires a yellowish or brownish tint over time. Grafts from the thigh or abdomen also have a light or dark brown tint and are therefore not suitable for closing wounds on the face or other exposed areas of the patient's body.

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Functioning of adnexal structures of transplanted skin

The adnexal structures of the transplanted skin, such as hair follicles, sweat and sebaceous glands, transplanted with the graft retain their functional abilities only if they were included in the graft. This means that the graft taken must be full-thick or thick enough to contain the indicated structures. The sensitivity of the grafted skin will be almost the same as the sensitivity of the surrounding skin if there are no extreme scar growths between the recipient bed and the graft that may prevent the nerve fibers from growing into the grafted skin. If the graft is transplanted to a cicatricial wound, to an area with a large depth of tissue destruction, or to a granulation tissue growing from a bone –

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