What to know about an autologous skin graft

A surgeon takes skin from one area of your body and places it over a prepared wound elsewhere. The graft initially relies on close contact with the wound bed, then develops a blood supply as healing progresses. A split-thickness graft includes the surface and part of the deeper skin; a full-thickness graft includes the entire skin thickness. The choice depends on the wound's size, depth, location, and reconstructive needs.

Keep dressings clean and dry for the period specified by the surgical team. Limit stretching, rubbing, pressure, and strenuous movement that could shift the graft or collect fluid underneath it. Do not remove a bolster dressing, staples, or stitches yourself. Take prescribed medicines as directed, avoid smoking or nicotine exposure, and attend wound checks so the clinician can assess attachment, colour, drainage, and donor-site healing.

Once the wounds have closed, the team may recommend moisturising, scar massage, sun protection, or a garment, depending on the location and scar behaviour. The graft can look different from surrounding skin in colour, texture, thickness, hair growth, and sensation. Later procedures are considered only after the surgeon assesses healing and the reason for any contour or scar concern.

Call the surgical team promptly for increasing pain, spreading redness, warmth, pus, unpleasant odour, fever, persistent bleeding, or a dressing soaked with fluid. A graft that becomes very dark, pale, cold, loose, or increasingly swollen also needs timely assessment. Seek emergency care for severe bleeding that does not stop with instructed pressure, breathing difficulty, fainting, or rapidly worsening illness.

Clarify which graft type is planned, where the donor site will be, how movement will be restricted, and who will change each dressing. Ask what appearance and sensation changes are expected, which signs suggest graft failure or infection, and when work, exercise, bathing, and sun exposure can resume.