Guest guest Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 My sister, who lives in Wisconsin, asked me yesterday if I knew about some of the skin harvesting programs that are available for burn victims. Apparently, some medical centers will remove extra skin, do tummy tucks (or what have you) for free if you allow them to harvest the extra skin. It's something I am thinking about looking into when I get to the point where I need to have a tummy tuck, and I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about this. I also wanted to throw the idea out there in case no one here has considered it. Hope everyone is well! makenzie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 Actually this is a myth that seems to circulate around weight loss email lists. Here is some information I found as to why: Begin quote... " this method of obtaining skin is cost prohibitive. The amount of transplantable tissue obtained from tissue reduction surgery is minimal when compared to the amount of tissue obtained from a cadaveric (deceased) tissue donor. The procurement costs would be much greater as it would require the services of doctors, nurses, anesthetists, and other health care professionals as well as the use of an operating room and other hospital services. Cadaveric donation requires only trained tissue recovery technicians, and they can procure tissue after the body has been sent to the morgue (rather than in an operating room), thus keeping expenses to a minimum. Additionally, cadaveric donated tissue can be used for transplant soon after recovery (as soon as quality assurance testing is complete), but the FDA requires that tissues recovered from living donors must be placed into quarantine for six months. At the end of six months, all serologic testing (HIV and Hepatitis) must be repeated before that tissue can be used. It is virtually impossible to obtain a skin graft from tissue than has been removed during tissue reduction surgery. The usual procedure for tissue reduction surgery involves the removal of skin and underlying attached tissues, but skin grafts used for transplant are only 15/1000 (0.015) of an inch thick and do not include these underlying tissues. Skin grafts for transplant are procured by the use of a surgical device called a dermatome, which peels off a very thin (0.015 inch), uniform layer of skin, and it only works on skin that is stretched taut over and firmly attached to muscles, such as in the back, arms, and legs. Very few people have an abdomen taut enough to permit skin tissue recovery. Skin folds (such as those removed when someone has lost a large amount of weight) lack the firm attachment to underlying tissues, and so the dermatome can't work properly. " end quote > My sister, who lives in Wisconsin, asked me yesterday if I knew about some of > the skin harvesting programs that are available for burn victims. > Apparently, some medical centers will remove extra skin, do tummy tucks (or what have > you) for free if you allow them to harvest the extra skin. It's something I am > thinking about looking into when I get to the point where I need to have a > tummy tuck, and I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about this. I > also wanted to throw the idea out there in case no one here has considered it. > > Hope everyone is well! > makenzie > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 In a message dated 4/5/2005 8:17:17 PM Pacific Standard Time, elstack@... writes: > Actually this is a myth that seems to circulate around weight loss > email lists Awww, rats! I was pretty sure this was good information, as my sister is a nurse. I'll pass along the information to her. THANKS! makenzie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 I've heard this story before, but have never found any verification of it being true. I'd think that there would also be problems with tissue matching between the donor and the recipient. Anyway, would be interesting if it were true....but some searching I've done gives no indication of it. Did run across one interesting article.... http://www.talksurgery.com/consumer/procedures/penile_enlargement.html where it talks about phalloplasty and using the skin and fat from a " mini tummy tuck " to enlarge the penis. But I'm sure that isn't of interest to you. dan Tuesday, April 5, 2005, 8:05:06 PM, you wrote: mac> My sister, who lives in Wisconsin, asked me yesterday if I knew about some of mac> the skin harvesting programs that are available for burn victims. mac> Apparently, some medical centers will remove extra skin, do tummy tucks (or what have mac> you) for free if you allow them to harvest the extra skin. It's something I am mac> thinking about looking into when I get to the point where I need to have a mac> tummy tuck, and I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about this. I mac> also wanted to throw the idea out there in case no one here has considered it. Dan Lester, Boise, ID honu@... www.mylapband.tk Dr. Ortiz, Tijuana, 4/28/03 323/209/199 Age 62 Fair is whatever God decides to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 Hi Mak, I just had my 2nd consult for a TT I want done in June. I asked both Doctors if my skin could be donated. They both said " No, It is not useable tissue. " (All stretched out.) Gee, Imagine that, after holding that big gut I used to carry around. Too bad. I have a lot to donate! Dr. Montgomery at goal 155 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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