Gujaratis are largest skin donors

Gujaratis save lives of several burns patients by providing 80% of skin donations inIndia, according to National Burn Centre data.

Skin transplant is still in its infancy in India but it can save the lives of patients with severe burns. And, Gujaratis play a crucial role in saving lives of hundreds of such patients in India. According to the National Burn Centre. Of around 650 donations in the past five years, more than 500 donations were made by Gujaratis.

“Out of the total skin donations made at our centre, 80 per cent of them are provided by Gujaratis,“ said NBC Secretary Dr Sunil Keswani, sharing the case of Anil Mehta ­ a 67-year-old resident of Surat whose family donated his skin to the bank.

“He was a businessman who had high diabetes and cardiac problems.When his health condition started deteriorating, he was taken to Mumbai for treatment. However, when he went into vegetative state, his family members decided to donate his skin,” added Dr Keswani.

Patients with less than 30 per cent burns are left with enough clean skin to cover burnt areas. So, skin trans plantation is mainly done among patients with more than 30 per cent burns.

The transplant helps in several ways. The transplanted skin is grafted on the exposed part to guard against infection and entry of foreign infec tious agents. “It controls the loss of fluid, protein, and heat from the body.

It acts as a biological dressing which provides sufficient time for the patient to recover. Reduced exposure means reduced pain for patients,” said experts.

Explaining the process, Dr M F Shaikh, additional medical superintendent of the Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, said, “A skin retrieval team reaches the deceased in a specialised burns ambulance. After taking consent from relatives, they harvest the skin of the donor only from the back and thigh with a special machine called ‘Dermatome’. Only one-eighth thickness of the skin is harvested. After harvesting, the area is bandaged and the donor's body is handed over to the next of kin.” The procedure takes around 45 minutes. “The donated skin is harvested in 6-12 hours of death. It can be preserved in liquid glycerol for as long as three years,“ he added.

NO SKIN BANK IN AHMEDABAD

There is no skin bank in Ahmedabad.In an earlier news report (80 per cent of burns victims could have been saved at Civil; January 3, 2015), Mirror had highlighted that despite signing MOU between state health department and NBC, no steps has been taken to fulfill the promise.

“I really find it surprising that though we get highest donations number of donations from the state, we have been unable to establish a skin bank in Ahmedabad despite several attempts,“ said Dr Keswani.

Commenting on it, Dr Shaikh said that the construction of the bank is under process. “We have plans to build a skin bank as soon as the new building is ready. Otherwise, it will be tough to shift expensive machines needed for preservation of skin from one building to another,“ he said.