For customizing body tissues, several techniques are being used in plastic surgery. You need to consult a plastic surgeon before deciding on your plastic surgery procedure. Your surgeons will provide you with brief details about the activities that are required before, during, and after the procedure. You may also require a psychological assessment before the surgery. Let us discuss how plastic surgery is performed.
Skin Grafting
For this process, healthy skin is removed from the areas that are unaffected and can be used for covering or correcting the damaged skin. During any surgery like bone fracture correction, when the skin is surgically removed, wounds may appear. There can be wounds from burns or diseases like cancer. For repairing the wounded skin, skin grafting can be used. Skin grafting generally comes in two different types.
- Full Thickness Skin Grafting- For this type of grafting, the entire thickness of the skin including the top and the underneath layers is removed and the area is then closely stitched. Areas like the back of the ear, groin, upper arm, and neck are used for full-thickness skin grafting. Selecting a new blood supply can be tough as this type of skin grafting is much thicker. The dressing will remain for 5 to 7 days in the same position till it’s being removed by the team of surgery.
- Split Thickness Or Partial Thickness- The thin layer of skin, just as thin as tissue paper, is used for partial or split-thickness. Dr. Haruko Okada is a well-known plastic surgeon who uses both split-thickness and full-thickness skin grafting procedures. The area from where the skin has been donated can possess a very unnoticeable scar and may fade into pink or even lighter shade, depending on the skin tone of the patients.
Steps Involved In Plastic Surgery
During the procedure, local anesthesia or general anesthesia is provided depending on the location and the size of the affected areas. Skin drafting generally includes procedures with special glue, stitches, clips, and staple. With the sterile dressing, the area needs to be covered till it has connected with the surrounding blood supply. The entire procedure may take 5 to 7 days. The donor site from where the skin is removed for use also needs a dressing to protect it from any type of infection.
When the partial thickness skin grafting process is used, generally the areas will require 2 weeks of time for complete healing. But when the process involves full-thickness grafting, it will just require 5 to 10 days time for healing. Initially, the grafted skin may appear purple or red in color, but the surrounding skin may appear to change color over time. The final color of the surrounding skin may look slightly different and little intended.
Conclusion
Plastic surgery may involve different steps and procedures. Skin grafting is mainly of two types where the entire volume of the skin is used or a partial skin is used depending on the requirements of the patients. Before the surgical procedure, you should know the time required for healing the wounds so that you can return to your work according to your requirements.
