A skin graft is a patch of skin that is removed by surgery from one area of the body and transplanted, or attached, to another area.

Your surgery will probably be done while you are under general anesthesia (you will be unconscious and will not feel pain).

Healthy skin is taken from a place on your body called the donor site. Most people having a skin graft have a split-thickness skin graft. This takes the 2 top layers of skin from the donor site (the epidermis) and the layer under the epidermis (the dermis).

The donor site can be any area of the body. Most times, it is an area that is hidden by clothes, such as the buttock or inner thigh.

The graft is carefully spread on the bare area where it is being transplanted. It is held in place either by gentle pressure from a well-padded dressing that covers it, or by staples or a few small stitches. The donor-site area is covered with a sterile dressing for 3 to 5 days.

People with deeper tissue loss may need a full-thickness skin graft. This takes the entire thickness of the skin from the donor site, not just the top 2 layers.

A full-thickness skin graft is a more complicated procedure. The flap of skin from the donor site includes the muscles and blood supply. It is transplanted to the area of the graft. Common donor sites include skin and muscle flaps from the back or the abdominal wall.

Skin grafts may be recommended for:

• Very large wounds
• Burns
• Venous ulcers, pressure ulcers, or diabetic ulcers which do not heal
• Surgeries that need skin grafts to heal
• Areas where there has been infection that caused a large amount of skin loss
• Cosmetic reasons or reconstructive surgeries where there has been skin damage or skin loss
• Skin cancer surgery

Full-thickness grafts are done when a lot of tissue is lost. This can happen with open fractures of the lower leg.