{"id":7216,"date":"2026-08-21T11:48:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7216"},"modified":"2026-08-25T09:15:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:15:19","slug":"history-of-skin-transplantation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/history-of-skin-transplantation\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of Skin Transplantation: Advancing Reconstructive Dermatology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you have lost a large area of skin because of a burn, injury or surgery, the wound may not be able to heal properly on its own. Today, your treatment may involve grafting your own skin, using temporary donor skin or, in selected cases, using laboratory-grown skin cells or specialist skin substitutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This progress took generations of research into graft survival, rejection and tissue expansion. Severe burns drove many advances, including skin banks, mesh grafts, cultured skin cells and artificial dermal templates, transforming your treatment options and shaping modern reconstructive medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where Did the Story of Skin Reconstruction Begin?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you look back at the earliest history of skin reconstruction, ancient India is one of the key starting points. Surgeons rebuilt damaged noses using skin that remained attached to its original blood supply. This helps you understand the main difference between a flap and a free skin graft: a flap keeps its blood supply, while a free graft is completely detached before it is moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you receive a free skin graft, the graft is completely detached from its original blood supply and needs to develop a new one from the wound underneath it. Understanding this difference between attached flaps and free grafts can help you see how modern skin reconstruction developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Did Early Nineteenth-Century Experiments Reveal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you follow the story into the early nineteenth century, researchers were beginning to test whether completely detached skin could survive after being moved. In 1804, Italian physiologist Giuseppe Baronio reported successful free autologous skin grafts in sheep, demonstrating experimentally that completely detached skin could survive after transplantation. His work attracted relatively little attention at the time but later became recognised as an important milestone in grafting history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1823, German surgeon Christian B\u00fcnger reported using a completely detached full-thickness piece of skin to reconstruct a nasal defect. The result was described as partly successful, but the case provided important evidence that free skin transplantation could also be attempted in humans. These developments helped bridge the gap between older flap-based reconstruction and the more reproducible free-grafting techniques that underpin the treatment options available to you today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Did Free Skin Grafting Become a Reliable Treatment?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you follow the development of modern skin grafting, an important breakthrough came in 1869 when Jacques-Louis Reverdin showed that small pieces of completely detached skin could survive on a suitable wound. Later work by Louis Ollier and Carl Thiersch helped surgeons use larger and thinner grafts, making it possible to cover bigger areas more reliably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the late nineteenth century, full-thickness grafts were also being developed. These preserved more of the dermis and became useful for smaller wounds where thickness, texture and appearance were particularly important. These advances helped create the grafting techniques your surgical team can use today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full-Thickness vs Split-Thickness Skin Grafts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Feature<\/strong><\/td>Full-thickness skin graft<\/strong><\/td>Split-thickness skin graft<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Tissue included<\/td>Epidermis and the entire dermis<\/td>Epidermis and part of the dermis<\/td><\/tr>
Donor-site healing<\/td>The donor site usually needs to be closed directly<\/td>The donor site can usually heal because part of the dermis remains<\/td><\/tr>
Area covered<\/td>Usually suitable for relatively smaller defects<\/td>Can be harvested to cover larger areas<\/td><\/tr>
Contraction<\/td>Usually shrinks less as it heals<\/td>More likely to shrink as it heals<\/td><\/tr>
Why your surgeon may select it<\/td>It may provide a closer match in colour, texture and contour for a smaller wound.<\/td>It may cover a larger wound or make better use of limited healthy donor skin<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How Your Skin Graft Establishes a New Blood Supply<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When a skin graft is first placed, it has no independent blood supply. At first, your graft survives by absorbing fluid and nutrients from the wound underneath it, a stage called plasmatic imbibition. Over the next few days, tiny blood vessels in the graft begin connecting with those in the wound until a more secure blood supply develops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why your graft needs to stay in close contact with a healthy wound that has a good blood supply. Blood or fluid underneath, infection or movement can interfere with survival, so surgeons carefully prepare and secure your graft during the crucial early days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinical Tip<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a skin graft, follow the surgical team’s instructions about dressings and movement carefully. The graft needs to remain protected while its early blood supply develops, so unnecessary rubbing, stretching or disturbance of the dressing can interfere with healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Your Body May Reject Donor Skin<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When surgeons use skin taken from another part of your own body, this is called an autograft. Because your immune system recognises the tissue as your own, an autograft can provide permanent coverage when your wound heals well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donor skin from another person, known as an allograft, behaves differently from your own skin. Your immune system can recognise it as foreign and eventually reject it, which is why donor skin is generally used as temporary rather than permanent coverage for an extensive wound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Did Wartime Skin Grafting Teach Doctors About Rejection?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you receive donor skin, your immune system may recognise it as foreign, but doctors did not always understand why this happened. During the Second World War, research into severe burns helped answer this question. In 1943, Thomas Gibson and Peter Medawar reported that repeat grafts from the same donor were rejected more quickly, providing important evidence that rejection involved a specific immune response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This discovery also showed doctors that donor skin could still be useful even if it was not permanent. It could temporarily protect a large wound until enough of your own skin was available for grafting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skin Banks Made Donor Tissue Available When It Was Needed<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you have a severe burn, your treatment team may need donor skin before enough of your own skin is available. This created a need for hospitals to keep suitable donor tissue ready rather than trying to find it only after an injury occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improvements in preservation during the mid-twentieth century made organised skin banks possible. This meant donor skin could be collected, processed and stored so that it was ready if you needed temporary wound coverage urgently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Did Dermatomes Make Skin Grafting More Consistent?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before modern dermatomes were available, surgeons had to cut skin grafts with freehand knives, making it difficult to achieve an even thickness. This changed in the late 1930s when Earl Padgett and George Hood developed a calibrated drum dermatome, helping surgeons prepare more consistent grafts for wounds like yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern dermatomes give your surgical team greater speed, control and consistency when harvesting skin from donor sites such as your thigh or back. This is particularly valuable if you need repeated or extensive grafting after a major burn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Can a Small Amount of Your Skin Cover a Larger Burn?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When you have a very large burn, there may simply be too little healthy skin to cover the wound. In 1958, Cicero Parker Meek introduced a micrografting method that divided split-thickness grafts into many small pieces, allowing a limited amount of donor skin to cover a much larger wound area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1964, James Tanner, Jacques Vandeput and John Olley developed mesh grafting, creating a patterned series of openings that allowed a split-thickness graft to expand over a larger wound and permitted fluid to drain through it. These techniques made each piece of your healthy donor skin far more useful in major burns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Did Early Burn Excision Change Burn Treatment?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you have a serious burn, your treatment may involve removing dead tissue at an earlier stage rather than waiting for it to separate naturally. This approach helped change the course of modern burn surgery. In 1970, Zora Jan\u017eekovi\u010d published her influential approach to early tangential excision and immediate grafting, in which damaged burn tissue was removed in thin layers until healthy bleeding tissue was reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This helped make excision and grafting part of earlier burn management rather than routinely waiting for dead tissue to separate before reconstruction. However, early excision could create large wounds, increasing the need for meshed grafts made from your own skin, donor skin and temporary skin substitutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Donor Skin Can Temporarily Protect Your Wound<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you have too little healthy skin for permanent grafting, temporary coverage can protect your wound while treatment continues. Donor skin from a deceased person can help reduce fluid and heat loss and provide a barrier while your donor sites recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temporary biological coverings made from animal tissue, including selected pig-skin products, have also been used in burn care. Like human donor skin, they are used to protect the wound for a limited period rather than permanently replace your skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists Learnt to Grow Your Own Skin Cells in the Laboratory<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1975, James Rheinwald and Howard Green developed a reliable way to grow human skin cells called keratinocytes in the laboratory. This raised an important possibility: a relatively small sample of your healthy skin could eventually provide cells to help cover a much larger area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1981, O\u2019Connor and colleagues reported using laboratory-grown sheets made from a patient\u2019s own skin cells on extensive burn wounds. This can be helpful when your healthy donor skin is very limited, although the sheets take time to prepare, can be delicate and are not suitable for every wound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Dermal Regeneration Templates Help Rebuild Your Skin<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If a deep burn damages both the outer and deeper layers of your skin, replacing the surface alone may not be enough. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ioannis Yannas and John Burke helped develop dermal regeneration templates that provide a framework for your own cells and blood vessels to grow into the wound and form new tissue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example is Integra, which combines a collagen-based layer with a temporary silicone covering. If this type of template is used for your wound, new tissue can gradually grow into it. Once that tissue has developed a good blood supply, the silicone layer can be removed and your surgical team can place a thin skin graft over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When You May Need a Skin Graft Beyond Burn Surgery<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you need reconstruction after a traumatic injury, cancer surgery or another complex wound, your treatment may draw on techniques originally refined through burn surgery. When your wound cannot be closed directly, a split-thickness or full-thickness skin graft may provide suitable coverage once the wound has a healthy surface and a good blood supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, successful reconstruction is about more than helping your graft survive. Your surgeon will also consider how the repaired area looks and feels, how much it may tighten as it heals, how well it moves and how both the donor and grafted areas may affect your daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Did Hand and Face Transplants Take Reconstruction Further?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you think of a hand or face transplant as simply a much larger skin graft, there is an important difference. These procedures transfer several types of tissue together, which can include skin, blood vessels, nerves, muscle, tendons and bone. This type of transplant is known as vascularised composite allotransplantation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you follow the history of these procedures, a landmark hand transplant was performed in France in 1998, although it was later removed after the recipient stopped taking immunosuppressive treatment. In 1999, a hand transplant performed in Louisville achieved long-term success, and the first partial face transplant followed in France in 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you were considered for one of these procedures, the aim would be to restore complex appearance and function. However, you would also need long-term medicines to suppress your immune system, which can increase risks such as rejection, infection and treatment side effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Skin Transplantation Evolved: A Timeline<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Period<\/strong><\/td>Development<\/td>Why It Mattered<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Ancient India<\/td>Surgeons used attached skin flaps for nasal reconstruction<\/td>Established early principles of reconstructive tissue transfer<\/td><\/tr>
1804<\/td>Giuseppe Baronio demonstrated free skin grafting in animals<\/td>Showed that completely detached skin could survive transplantation<\/td><\/tr>
1823<\/td>Christian B\u00fcnger reported free skin transplantation for a human nasal defect<\/td>Provided early evidence that free grafting could work in people<\/td><\/tr>
1869<\/td>Jacques-Louis Reverdin introduced pinch grafting<\/td>Helped establish modern free skin grafting<\/td><\/tr>
Late 1930s<\/td>Earl Padgett and George Hood developed a calibrated dermatome<\/td>Made skin harvesting more controlled and consistent<\/td><\/tr>
1943<\/td>Thomas Gibson and Peter Medawar studied donor-skin rejection<\/td>Helped establish the immune basis of graft rejection<\/td><\/tr>
1958<\/td>Cicero Parker Meek introduced micrografting<\/td>Allowed a small amount of healthy donor skin to cover a larger wound<\/td><\/tr>
1964<\/td>Tanner, Vandeput and Olley developed mesh grafting<\/td>Made it possible to expand skin grafts over larger burns<\/td><\/tr>
1970<\/td>Zora Jan\u017eekovi\u010d advanced early burn excision and grafting<\/td>Helped change the timing of modern burn reconstruction<\/td><\/tr>
1975 to 1981<\/td>Laboratory-grown skin-cell techniques developed<\/td>Opened new options when healthy donor skin was limited<\/td><\/tr>
1998 to 2005<\/td>Hand and face transplantation advanced<\/td>Extended transplantation to complex reconstruction involving several tissue types<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What the Future of Skin Transplantation Could Mean for You<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Modern research is addressing limitations such as scarce donor skin, incomplete tissue regeneration and immune rejection. In the future, laboratory-engineered skin may be able to reproduce more of the features of your natural skin, including its outer and deeper layers, blood vessels, pigmentation and structures such as hair follicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers are also studying ways to help your immune system accept transplanted tissue more safely, which might one day reduce the need for long-term immunosuppressive medicines. These approaches remain experimental and are not established alternatives to current grafting or immunosuppressive treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth vs Fact<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Myth<\/strong><\/td>Fact<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
A skin graft keeps its original blood supply.<\/td>No. A free graft is detached and must develop a new blood supply from the wound underneath it.<\/td><\/tr>
All skin grafts contain the same layers of skin.<\/td>No. Full-thickness grafts contain the entire dermis, while split-thickness grafts contain only part of it.<\/td><\/tr>
Donated human skin usually becomes permanent skin.<\/td>No. Your immune system can recognise donor skin from another person as foreign, so it is generally used as temporary coverage.<\/td><\/tr>
A small amount of healthy skin cannot cover a very large burn.<\/td>Mesh grafting and Meek micrografting can help your surgical team use a small amount of your own skin to cover a much larger area.<\/td><\/tr>
Laboratory-grown skin completely replaces conventional grafting.<\/td>No. Laboratory-grown skin-cell grafts can help when your healthy donor skin is limited, but they take time to prepare, can be delicate and do not work equally well in every case.<\/td><\/tr>
A hand or face transplant is simply a large skin graft.<\/td>No. These transplants contain several tissue types and require long-term immunosuppression.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Frequently Asked Questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. When did skin transplantation first begin?
<\/strong>If you look back at the earliest history of skin reconstruction, it can be traced more than 2,000 years to ancient India, where surgeons used attached skin flaps to rebuild damaged noses. The free skin grafts used in modern treatment developed much later, particularly during the nineteenth century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. What was the first major breakthrough in modern skin grafting?
<\/strong>One of the major breakthroughs behind the grafting techniques available to you today came in 1869, when Jacques-Louis Reverdin showed that completely detached pieces of skin could survive after transplantation. Later work by Ollier and Thiersch allowed surgeons to use larger and thinner grafts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. What is the difference between an autograft and an allograft?
<\/strong>An autograft uses your own skin, so it can provide permanent coverage when the graft heals successfully. An allograft uses skin from another person and is usually used as temporary coverage because your immune system can eventually reject it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. How does a skin graft survive after transplantation?
<\/strong>At first, your graft survives by absorbing fluid and nutrients from the wound underneath it. Over the next few days, tiny blood vessels in the graft begin connecting with those in the wound until a more reliable blood supply develops. This is why good wound preparation and secure contact are so important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Why did skin grafting become so important for severe burns?
<\/strong>If you have a major burn, a large area of damaged skin may need to be covered when only a limited amount of healthy donor skin is available. Techniques such as dermatomes, mesh grafting, Meek micrografting and temporary donor skin can help your surgical team make better use of the healthy skin available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. How did wartime research change skin transplantation?
<\/strong>Research during the Second World War helped show that your immune system can recognise donor skin as foreign and reject it. This explained why donor skin is usually used as temporary coverage rather than as permanent replacement skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. What are mesh grafts and Meek micrografts used for?
<\/strong>If you have an extensive burn and only a limited amount of healthy donor skin is available, both techniques can help your surgical team cover a much larger wound. Mesh grafting creates openings in the skin so it can be expanded, while Meek micrografting divides the graft into small pieces that can be spread over a wider area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. How did cultured skin cells change burn treatment?
<\/strong>Research by James Rheinwald and Howard Green showed that skin cells could be grown in the laboratory. This led to laboratory-grown sheets made from your own skin cells, offering another way to cover wounds when you have very little healthy donor skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. What are artificial dermal substitutes?
<\/strong>Dermal regeneration templates act as a framework that allows your own cells and blood vessels to grow into a deep wound and form new tissue. Integra is one example. Once the new tissue has developed a good blood supply, the temporary silicone layer can be removed and a thin graft of your own skin placed over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. What is the future of skin transplantation?
<\/strong>Research is exploring laboratory-engineered skin, ways to improve the blood supply to new tissue and methods that may help your immune system accept transplanted tissue more safely. These approaches may improve reconstruction in the future, but many remain experimental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Thoughts: What This History Means for You<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The development of skin transplantation has given your surgical team several ways to repair complex wounds. Depending on your injury, the amount of healthy skin available and your treatment goals, your reconstruction may involve grafting your own skin, using temporary donor skin, expanding a graft to cover a larger area or using a specialist dermal template.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not every technique is suitable for every wound. Your surgeon will consider the depth and location of your wound, its blood supply, how much healthy donor skin is available and how the repaired area needs to look and function before recommending the most suitable approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Kohlhauser, M., Luze, H., Nischwitz, S.P. and Kamolz, L.P. (2021) \u2018Historical evolution of skin grafting – A journey through time\u2019, Medicina<\/em>, 57(4), article 348. Available at: https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1648-9144\/57\/4\/348<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Schlottmann, F., Bucan, V., Vogt, P.M. and Krezdorn, N. (2021) \u2018A short history of skin grafting in burns: From the gold standard of autologous skin grafting to the possibilities of allogeneic skin grafting with immunomodulatory approaches\u2019, Medicina<\/em>, 57(3), article 225. Available at: https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1648-9144\/57\/3\/225<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Gallico, G.G. III, O\u2019Connor, N.E., Compton, C.C., Kehinde, O. and Green, H. (1984) \u2018Permanent coverage of large burn wounds with autologous cultured human epithelium\u2019, The New England Journal of Medicine<\/em>, 311(7), pp. 448\u2013451. Available at: https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/6379456\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. O\u2019Connor, N.E., Mulliken, J.B., Banks-Schlegel, S., Kehinde, O. and Green, H. (1981) \u2018Grafting of burns with cultured epithelium prepared from autologous epidermal cells\u2019, The Lancet, 317(8211), pp. 75\u201378. Available at: https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/6109123\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Murphy, B.D., Zuker, R.M. and Borschel, G.H. (2013) \u2018Vascularized composite allotransplantation: An update on medical and surgical progress and remaining challenges\u2019, Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery<\/em>, 66(11), pp. 1449\u20131455. Available at: https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1748681513003902<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you have lost a large area of skin because of a burn, injury or surgery, the wound may not be able to heal properly on its own. Today, your treatment may involve grafting your own skin, using temporary donor skin or, in selected cases, using laboratory-grown skin cells or specialist skin substitutes. This progress […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64.jpg",1100,600,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64.jpg",1100,600,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64.jpg",1100,600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-300x164.jpg",300,164,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-1024x559.jpg",1024,559,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64.jpg",1100,600,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64.jpg",1100,600,false],"et-pb-post-main-image":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-400x250.jpg",400,250,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-1080x600.jpg",1080,600,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-400x284.jpg",400,284,true],"et-pb-portfolio-module-image":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-510x382.jpg",510,382,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image-single":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-1080x589.jpg",1080,589,true],"et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-400x516.jpg",400,516,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth-large":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64.jpg",1100,600,false],"et-pb-image--responsive--desktop":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64.jpg",1100,600,false],"et-pb-image--responsive--tablet":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-980x535.jpg",980,535,true],"et-pb-image--responsive--phone":["https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Imagess-64-480x262.jpg",480,262,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Shailendra Kumar","author_link":"https:\/\/www.london-dermatology-centre.co.uk\/blog\/author\/shailendra\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Uncategorized<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"If you have lost a large area of skin because of a burn, injury or surgery, the wound may not be able to heal properly on its own. Today, your treatment may involve grafting your own skin, using temporary donor skin or, in selected cases, using laboratory-grown skin cells or specialist skin substitutes. 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