It was shark’s skin that pulled out a badly burnt 23-year-old aspiring doctor from the jaws of death. While he waited seven days for it to arrive from US
Artificial skin worth Rs40 lakh grafted on man’s arms
MUMBAI: It was shark’s skin that pulled out a badly burnt 23-year-old aspiring doctor from the jaws of death. While he waited seven days for it to arrive from US, his wounds were covered in pig skin.
The medical procedure is unusual given the scarcity of burn clinics in the country and the dismal state of skin donations.
Artificial skin called ‘Integra’ derived from chemicals extracted from shark skin was used to save Roshan (name changed) who sustained severe burns in an accident last month.
Integra, though being labelled as one of the best innovations for burn injury, is also dreadfully expensive. A patch of artificial skin slightly smaller than the size of a bread slice costs about Rs2 lakh.
“In India, it will take some time to gain a mass appeal because of the cost,” said Dr SM Keswani who conducted the surgery on Roshan using Integra.
In Roshan’s case, grafting his two arms with the artificial skin cost about Rs40 lakh. “Things had happened smoothly as we managed to get the artificial skin donated by a company,” said his mother, who is based in the US.
Presently recuperating at Sushrut Hospital in Chembur, Roshan was brought in from Pune after he sustained burns in an accident.
“More than 25% of his wounds have already healed,” said Keswani.
In India, patients with more than 50% burns usually have grim chances of survival as the availability of skin is scarce. “The dead skin has to be replaced almost immediately with new skin in severe burn cases,” said Dr Madhuri Gore, head of burns unit at Sion Hospital.
Artificial skin, that contains two layers, is particularly used in cases where the patient’s skin has lost the ability to heal on its own. The patch of artificial skin is placed on the damaged tissue so that the chemicals on that patch help the growth of new blood vessels. Later, when the blood vessels resume their normal functioning, the silicon layer is peeled off.
The entire healing process with Integra takes about four weeks. “Artificial skin works wonders in erasing scars and also in subsequent reconstructive surgeries,” said Keswani. However, there are about 23% chances that a patient may develop an infection due to Integra.
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