Prayagraj’s SRN Hospital to get a skin bank soon

Swaroop Rani Nehru (SRN) Hospital of Prayagraj will soon have a ‘skin-bank’ that will aid in better treatment of burn victims.

Officials of Moti Lal Nehru Medical College (MLNMC), under which the SRN Hospital falls, said a proposal in this regard has been sent to the state government for approval.

“Skin banking is a process in which skin grafts are harvested from a cadaveric donor and stored for future use. Just like cornea donations after death skin from a donor is harvested within 6 hours of death. It is stored in glycerol and then taken to a skin bank. There it undergoes processing and is then stored at -70° Celsius. It can be preserved for up to one year,” said Dr Mohit Jain, head of the department of plastic surgery, MLNMC.

He said this skin can be used for patients having large areas affected by burn injury and needing grafting.

Dr Jain further said “The burnt skin is removed and skin stored in a skin-bank is applied over the wound. This helps in saving the life of the patient as the skin stays for 10-12 days which are the most critical days for the burn patient. This can prevent water loss, infection and pain and is extremely advantageous for the survival of burn patient.”

He added that proposed skin bank would come up at the additional floor of the under-construction burn unit building being built at a cost of ₹3.6 crore.

“If approved, we will need few things like chemicals and freezers among others,” he added.

Dr Jain said “A 26-bed burn unit is under construction at SRNH under state government sponsored Rani Lakshmi Bai Mahila Samman Yojana and Centre-sponsored National Program of Prevention and Management of Burn Injuries. Our proposal is an extension of this facility which is under construction.”

In India, more than a million cases of burn injuries are reported every year, and most of them require skin cover and grafts. In case of deficient donor skin, immediate early excision and cover can be done with allograft which can be used for coverage of wound or it can be used with autograft as “sandwich technique.” Hindustan Times