With organ donation picking up in the State, awareness on the concept of skin donation is also catching up. The State’s first skin bank set up in the government-run Victoria Hospital has had 85 donations ever since its inception in March 2016. Donated skin has been used for grafting in nearly 40 patients, with skin damage due to burns.
One among the beneficiaries is an eight-year-old boy, who recently suffered third-degree burns after he tried to imitate a stunt that he saw during a Muharram procession.
The son of a driver from Tilaknagar in the city, the boy had burns on his chest, feet, and upper limbs, and was rushed to the Mahabodhi burns ward in Victoria Hospital. Skin grafting and it was done on him 10 days ago.
K.T. Ramesh, head of the department of plastic surgery in Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), told The Hindu , “Although some patches of skin from his thigh area were used, it was not enough. We used donated skin on a major portion of his chest, and the boy is doing well now. He will be discharged in a few days.”
A great help
With the burns ward in the hospital getting nearly 220 admissions (of which over 70% are serious cases), the skin bank is of great help to patients who deal with the trauma of disfigurement. Hospitals from across the State are placing requests for the facility.
“The skin bank is a boon for patients as there is no blood-group matching required in skin grafting. Anyone over 18 years, who does not have skin disease or infections can donate,” Dr. Ramesh said.
The bank, set up in association with Rotary Bangalore Midtown and Ashirvad Pipes (Rotary Ashirvad BMCRI Skin Bank), did not get a good response in the first year. BMCRI then roped in Kannada cine stars — Prem and Kumar Bangarappa — to popularise the concept of skin donations. “While the actors participated in a few awareness programmes, our skin bank team comprising of paramedics — Nagaraj, Prasanna, and Lakshmikanth — have been doing yeoman service. Apart from visiting colleges and public functions to create awareness, the team also accompanies grief counsellors from Jeevasarthakathe, the State-run body that facilitates the cadaver organ transplantation programme, to hospitals where brain deaths are declared,” said Dr. Ramesh.
‘People call us’
Earlier, despite counselling, relatives of patients who breathe their last in Victoria Hospital (where the bank is located), were not ready to come forward. “Now, we are glad that people call us when there is a death in the family and say they are interested in donating skin. This apart, we have received over 1,500 pledges so far,” the doctor added.
