HealthInfo West Coast-Te Tai Poutini
Overview of skin grafts
Tirohanga whānui ki ngā pokanga kiri
A skin graft is an area of skin taken from one part of your body to cover an injury on another part of your body. This could be because of any injury such as a burn, or after you have had skin cancer surgically removed.
There are 2 types of skin grafts.
- Split skin grafts are paper-thin shavings of the top layer of skin.
- Full-thickness skin grafts use all the skin layers. They are mostly used for areas such as the face, hands or over joints.
Skin grafts are done in an operating theatre. You either have a local anaesthetic (an injection that makes the area numb) or a general anaesthetic (when you go to sleep).
You usually have a skin graft as an inpatient but sometimes you can have one as an outpatient. The type of operation you need depends on how big the area is and where it is. Sometimes the surgeon makes lots of little slits in the graft, making it look like a mesh. This means it can be stretched to cover a bigger area.
The surgeon transfers the graft to its new site and places it so the edges overlap the surrounding skin. They stitch, staple or glue the graft into position, and cover it with a dressing. Sometimes the surgeon will put a special dressing over the graft and stitch it into place to make sure it does not move. This especially happens for grafts on your face.
Body fluid from the wound feeds the graft, keeping it alive while new blood vessels grow into it. It takes about 5 days for this to start to happen. As it heals, it attaches to the wound site and becomes permanent.
Skin grafts are usually done by plastic surgeons. But they are sometimes done by dermatologists or by general practice teams with special training.
Donor sites
A donor site is the area where the healthy skin is taken from to use as the graft. If you have a split skin graft, the raw area that is left is like a graze and usually takes up to 2 weeks to heal. If you have a full thickness graft, the wound is stitched together and heals like any other stitched wound. Skin grafts are usually taken from your thigh or arm, but they can come from other areas.
Scars
You will have scars on the grafted and donor sites. The donor scar will be less noticeable than the one on the grafted area. The grafted area will be a different colour and feel different to the surrounding skin.
Scars generally get better with time, but they do not disappear. A few people get raised, red and thickened scars (called keloid or hypertrophic). Tell your surgeon before your surgery if you have had this type of scar before.
Risks and possible complications
The risks and possible complications will vary depending on your overall health, the size of the procedure you need, where it will be and whether it will be done under local or general anaesthetic.
In general, this surgery is safe. But all surgery has some risk of infections, bleeding, delayed healing and reactions to anaesthetic or medications. As well, skin grafts can sometimes fail, meaning that they do not get enough blood supply for the skin to stay alive. Talk to your doctor for more details about the specific risks.
For information on how to care for your dressing, see Caring for your dressings.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- DermNet NZ – Skin grafting
More detailed information about skin grafts and what is involved in having one. Includes a photograph.
On the next page: Self-care for skin grafts
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed September 2024.
SourcesReview key: HISGR-87518
