Full-thickness skin grafts (FTSG) with a new technique

Abstract

Introduction: Full-thickness skin grafts (FTSG) have long been an indispensable and frequently practiced standard procedure in plastic surgery. The defatting and thinning of the grafts with scissors or scalpel to a thickness of 0,8 – 1,2 mm is very time-consuming even for experienced surgeons in the case of large transplants. Devices for full-thickness skin graft defatting are not available on the market. For this reason, we developed a relatively simple device that enables complete and safe degreasing and thinning of the graft in the shortest possible time. Materials and Methods: The machine has a dimension of 38cm width, 24cm length, 23cm height. The cutting thickness can be set to 0.6mm, 0.8mm, and 1.0mm. The central part is a crimper run manually with a crank to guide the specimen through a cutting blade. The machine is made of stainless steel, can be completely disassembled, and is easy to sterilize. Results: With this device small and very large skin grafts up to 15 cm in width can get completely defatted within a few seconds. Discussion: The time for defatting is reduced by many times. Precious operating time is spared. It can be assumed that the healing of the graft is improved due to a more complete defatting, a much shorter manipulating time of the skin and a more even cut surface compared to the manual procedure. The risk of defects in the graft and of injury of the surgeon is minimized compared to manual preparation.