Evolution of skin grafting for treatment of burns: Reverdin pinch grafting to Tanner mesh grafting and beyond.

BACKGROUND

Skin grafting is the current standard care in the treatment of full thickness burns. It was first described around 1500 BC but the vast majority of advancements have been achieved over the past 200 years.

METHODS

An extensive literature review was conducted on Pubmed, Medline and Google Scholar researching the evolution of skin grafting techniques. The authors concentrated on the major landmarks of skin grafting and also provide an overview of ongoing research efforts in this field.

RESULTS

The major innovations of skin grafting include Reverdin pinch grafting, Ollier grafting, Thiersch grafting, Wolfe grafting, Padgett dermatome and modifications, Meek-wall microdermatome and Tanner mesh grafting. A brief description of the usage, advantages and limitations of each technique is included in the manuscript.

CONCLUSIONS

Skin grafting technique have evolved significantly over past 200 years from Reverdin pinch grafting to modern day meshed skin grafts using powered dermatome. Increasing the expansion ratio and improving the cosmetic and functional outcome are the main focus of ongoing skin grafting research and emerging techniques (such as Integra, Recell, Xpansion) are showing promise.