Artificial skin grafts and skin substitutes

The everyday term covers several products with different materials and functions. Some act as temporary biological dressings, while others provide a scaffold that tissue can grow into. They are not automatically interchangeable with a graft taken from the patient's own body.

A substitute may help retain moisture, reduce fluid and heat loss, shield exposed tissue or encourage development of a wound bed suitable for later closure. Product selection depends on wound depth, blood supply, contamination, infection, exposed structures and the person's overall ability to heal.

Before application, the surgical team may remove dead tissue and control contamination. The material is then secured and covered with a dressing. Some substitutes are removed or replaced; others become incorporated. A conventional skin graft uses living skin from a donor site on the same person and may be considered when durable closure is needed.

Keep the dressing clean, dry and in its intended position unless the wound team gives different instructions. Protect the area from pressure, friction and stretching, and follow any elevation or movement restrictions. Do not lift the dressing to inspect the material, apply antiseptics or remove staples or sutures yourself.

Attend every planned dressing change because clinicians assess attachment, drainage, surrounding skin and tissue viability. Support healing by following nutrition and glucose-management advice where relevant, avoiding nicotine, and taking prescribed medicines exactly as directed.

Contact the wound or surgical team urgently for increasing pain, spreading redness, new warmth or swelling, pus, bad odour, fever, unexpected bleeding, a soaked or displaced dressing, darkening tissue, or a sudden change in drainage. Seek emergency care for severe bleeding, confusion, fainting, breathing difficulty or rapidly worsening illness.

Ask for the substitute's name and material, whether it is temporary or intended to incorporate, and what must happen before the next stage of closure. Clarify how the area should be protected, who changes the dressing, what drainage is expected, whether another operation may be needed and which number to call if the dressing shifts.