title: Use of skin allograft and its donation rate in Singapore: an 11-year retrospective review for burns treatment.
abstract: An 11-year retrospective review (1993 to 2003) of 102 severe burn patients (>40% total body surface area and undergone wound excision surgery) was performed to determine the efficacy of early wound debridement and coverage of large burns with skin allografts, a treatment introduced here in 1998 with the establishment of a skin banking facility. While there was no significant reduction in mortality, length of hospital stay decreased by 15.7 days (P < .05) during the post-skin-banking period. Skin allograft donation rates from multiorgan donors were consistently fewer compared with corneal donation, mainly due to strong cultural beliefs and public misconceptions regarding skin harvesting. The overall tissue donation rate in Singapore may improve if efforts focus on deceased cases sent to the state coroner where retrieval and counseling can be centralized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastics Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Singapore General Hospital, Outram Road, Singapore S-169608, Singapore. gplcwc@sgh.com.sg
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: K-C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002056:Burns / Q000601:surgery*; D002102:Cadaver; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012846:Singapore; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000706:statistics & numerical data