'Getting under our skin': Introducing banked allograft skin to burn surgery in South Africa.
Deceased donor skin possesses many of the properties of the ideal biological dressing, and a well-stocked skin bank has become a critically important asset for the modern burn surgeon. Without it, managing patients with extensive burns and wounds becomes far more challenging, and outcomes are significantly worse. With the recent establishment of such a bank in South Africa, the challenge facing the medical fraternity is to facilitate tissue donation so that allograft skin supply can match the enormous demand.
Edendale Hospital Burn Service, Pietermaritzburg; Department of Surgery, School of Clinical Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. nikkiallorto@gmail.com.
Nikki
N
Allorto
Alan David
AD
Rogers
Heinz
H
Rode
D064591:Allografts / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D002056:Burns / Q000601:surgery*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D013019:South Africa; D014015:Tissue Banks / Q000458:organization & administration*