Question:
donation of skin
has anyone thought about donating their excess skin to a burn center? i would think live tissue would be healthier for one to use. maybe this way more insurance companies would approve the surgery.. — riotgirlp (posted on June 28, 2003)
June 27, 2003
this is an old urban legend/hoax. They don't want our old, stretched out
skin and truly skin can only be harvested from cadavers. When it sounds
too good to be true, it usually is. Nice thought though...wish it were
true :>)
— [Deactivated Member]
June 28, 2003
I had a relative tell me that he knew a guy who weight over 600lbs and that
a burn center paid for him to have liposuction and he lost almost 200lbs
and then they used his skin. Ummm...there is no way someone had 200 lbs
liposuctioned. I never believe anything this guy tells me. Anyway even if
burn centers don't want our skin...can it help science in anyway...even if
there isn't any financial kickback?
— Sarahlicious
June 28, 2003
The problem with donated skin is that it doesn't graft onto the donee's
skin so it only has some very limited use (at best) as a dressing.
However, there is such a cost to sanitizing it, storing it and then
shipping it that it tends not to be a viable option given its highly
limited use.
— SteveColarossi
June 28, 2003
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas has one of
the best burn centers in the US and they said they DO NOT accept skin from
anyone for grafts. And the rumors around the web about burn centers paying
for people to have reconstructive surgery in order to get the skin, are
exactly that, rumors. So sorry to burst anyone's bubble if they were
hoping to use donation of excess skin as a possible way to attain
reconstructive surgery, either through their insurance company or through
the burn centers footing the cost to get the skin.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
— Patty_Butler
June 28, 2003
this is simply not true, it sounds good but in fact no one wants stretched
out skin when they can use cadaver skin for free why spend money to remove
ours for us, this is a hoax, it seems to never die out. wish it was so.
— janetc00
June 28, 2003
Shriner's Hospitals around the country are famous for their excellent care
of burn victims. This is from their website. <p>"We receive a
lot of calls about skin donation," says Phil Walters, director of the
skin bank at the Boston hospital. He says the two most frequently asked
questions are: is skin taken from a living donor and can tissue surgically
removed from a patient by procedures such as those performed to reduce
obesity be donated. "The answer to both questions is no," says
Walters. "Skin is procured from a deceased organ donor, just like any
other donated organ."
— garw
June 29, 2003
I saw this topic on Oprah a few years ago. It was women jsut like us that
had WLS and dontated their skin plus were teaching cases for interns for
plastic surgery.
— Donna W.
June 30, 2003
Skin is an organ, and has to be typed and matched from the donor to the
recipient, just like a kidney or anything else. That is why they try to use
a burn victims own tissue whenever possible - so it won't be rejected and
cause even more problems. Please, put this old urban legend about donating
skin, to rest!
— koogy
June 30, 2003
Oh, yea, another thing - if you have plastic surgery at a teaching
hospital, you will likely have residents assisting on your surgery. The
release is in the forms you sign when you are admitted to the hospital. (I
know there were medical students and residents assisting on my RNY - they
all came in pre-op and introduced themselves! Then I saw them everyday
afterwords, too. One medical student was so sweet - her job was to hold the
camera still during my lap surgery.)
— koogy
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