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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Skin grafting

    Related Topics
    Burns Dermatology
    My 3 years old daughter got her lower arm burned. The burn was diagnosed as partial thickness. It was one week ago and now it is dressed with the silver dressing. The burn is generally red but there is still white spots, and we were advised to do a skin graft. My question is when can we determine if it will heal on its own or if we need the surgery? For the donor site for this graft, will it be permanently changed? Is the skin graft the best way to avoid scarring? Thanks.
    • 2 answers
    • Dr Mahyar Amjadi
    • Abeer Ellabaan
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    Dr Mahyar Amjadi

    Plastic Surgeon

    Dr Amjadi completed his schooling and university studies in Adelaide, and completed his surgical training in Sydney. He has been in private practice for more … View Profile

    Dear Abeer

    Generally, a wound that takes more than about 14 days to heal, is more likely to leave a less favourable scar. This means that any wound will heal if you leave it for long enough, but if takes too long it may contract and either become unsightly or cause functional problems. In case of young children, doctors usually wait for about two weeks before deciding if a skin graft is neccessary. The donor site will be initially red and then a bit whiter than the rest of the skin. Even for very dark skinned people, the donor site usually heales without any permanent changes, but of course this cannot be gauranteed. For a deep burn that will take a long time to heal, a skin graft is a good way of achieving the best healing and the least scarring in the hands of a specialist surgeon.

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  • Abeer Ellabaan

    HealthShare Member

    Thank you so much Doctor Mahyar,

    That was really helpful, as I was so anxious about if the donor site would be scared or not. My daughter is booked for a  skin graft next week, the majority of her wound is pink now and the doctors told me that these pink areas are fine but there is few white patches which they want to graft it, is it better to graft the whole wound or the deepest parts or the white parts only??

    Thanks again.

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