PGIMER TO HAVE NORTH REGION’S FIRST INDEPENDENT SKIN BANK

CHANDIGARH: PGIMER Chandigarh is going to establish a ‘Skin Bank’ without the association with any NGO. This would prove beneficial for the victims of burn injuries from the north region. It would be First of its kind of Bank here in PGIMER, which will preserve skin of brain dead patients and would implant in burn cases.

Interestingly, In India, the first deceased donor skin bank was established in 2000 at Mumbai, which was only one skin bank till 2009. In 2009, a collaboration of the National Burns Centre Mumbai, Rotary International, and Euro Skin Bank developed an effective model of skin bank that started functioning in 2013.

Dr Parmod Kumar, Additional Professor who is an expert in Skin Implantation told The Daily Guardian, “We are done with most of the formalities to start Skin Bank here in PGIMER soon. Some paper work is still left however.”

“Skin tissues are required to be implanted in maximum burn cases or in cases where skin is majorly injured. We can extract the skin from the brain dead cases, since legally we are not allowed to take skin donation from a living being.”

He further explained, “Skin can be preserved for 6 hours and even for 12 hours if temperature is maintained. Receiver can be cured with implanted skin within duration 4-5 weeks, and there are methods where patient mostly feels least pain as well during the whole process”.

The burns unit of the department has been treating about 300-400 patients every year. “The department has been providing comprehensive management to the patients of cleft lip and palate from infancy to adulthood under one roof. The complex craniofacial deformities such as mis-shaped skulls and faces are also being successfully treated through complex state of the art operations by the department”, stated Prof. R.K Sharma, Head of Plastic Surgery department, PGIMER, Chandigarh.