Burn Scars
With advanced treatments and world-class expertise, Shriners Children's cares for and improves the lives of children with burn scars every day.
Shriners Children’s is Advancing Care and Healing for Children with Burns Using Skin Grafting
Skin grafting is highly effective in closing acute wounds quickly to help regulate body temperature, prevent infection and allow for proper body fluids to continue functioning. Donor grafts are used as a bio-medical bandage, and are changed about every two weeks until the child's tissue is ready to accept permanent grafts from an area of their own body that has not been burned.
Because the skin serves as a natural barrier to infection, such grafts help prevent the child from dealing with exposure to life-threatening bacteria and germs that may complicate their recovery further. Of course, the earlier a child receives initial treatment after a serious burn injury, the better their outcome will be.
Specific treatments and services may vary by location. Please contact a specific location for more information.
Learn About Skin Grafting
Skin grafting is highly effective in closing acute wounds quickly to help regulate body temperature, prevent infection and allow for proper body fluids to continue functioning. Donor grafts are used as a bio-medical bandage, and are changed about every two weeks until the child's tissue is ready to accept permanent grafts from an area of their own body that has not been burned.
Types of Skin Grafting
In the cases of large surface area burns and or more severe burns, donor skin is often used to cover the burn wound until they are healthy enough to accept a graft from the child's own healthy skin.
Donor Skin
Donor grafts, which are stored in our tissue bank, are applied in strips, like bandages to cover the wounded burn area. Mesh grafting is required when there is not enough undamaged skin available to use as a donor site. Mesh grafts use less donor skin, and allow a child with a large surface area burn to achieve wound closure in less time than using sheet grafts. The mesh pattern, however, will remain visible throughout the child’s life.
Sheet Grafting
Sheet grafting is the ideal wound covering. A strip of donor skin is taken from an unburned area and transferred to the excised burn area. The advantages of sheet grafting are durability and less contraction, or tightening, of the wound area. Sheet grafts are also more cosmetic than alternate methods of grafting.
Autografting
Autografting is the removal and placement of your child’s healthy, unburned skin (donor site) on the area of the burn. Donor sites are painful, but heal within 10-14 days, much like a superficial second-degree burn.
Amniotic Membrane Grafts
Grafts using amniotic membrane that is donated by new mothers post-birth, are extremely helpful given their natural healing properties, with treating facial burns and burns affecting the eyes.
Shalom spent months in the pediatric intensive care unit while he underwent surgeries and skin grafting to bring back mobility. I offer many thanks to Shriners Children's and their incredible mission.
Locations That Offer Skin Grafting
View All Related LocationsShriners Children's provides specialty health care to children around the world. We offer a comprehensive range of treatments, services and support to improve the quality of our patients’ lives and help them reach their full potential.
Shiners Children's Tissue Bank Ensures Supply in Times of Crisis
Shriners Children's Texas has one of only a few remaining on-site hospital tissue banks in the United States, providing grafts for an average of 750 children per year in Texas alone.
Conditions We Treat
View All Related Conditions
Chemical Burns
At Shriners Children’s, our burn care team uses advanced diagnostics and innovative treatments to care for children with chemical burns.
Electrical Burns
At Shriners Children's, our team uses advanced diagnostics and innovative treatments to care for electrical burns.
Flame Burn
A flame burn is caused by contact with fire, such as a burning candle or home fire. Our staff at Shriners Children's treat all flame burns, from small injuries to large burns requiring hospitalization.
Fourth Degree Burns
World-renowned burn care expertise at Shriners Children's provides hope and life-changing care to children with fourth degree burns.
Second Degree Burns
Shriners Children's treats second degree burns or partial thickness burns which destroy the top and middle layers of the skin.
Scalds
At Shriners Children’s our burn care team uses advanced diagnostics and innovative treatments to care for children with scalds.
Third Degree Burns
At Shriners Children's our team is skilled at treating third degree burns, also referred to as full thickness burns, which are among the most serious burn injuries.
Next Steps
Request an Appointment
Families and caregivers seeking treatment should start by contacting us for an appointment.
Log in to the Patient Portal
Parents and guardians of existing patients can email, request records, schedule appointments and more.
Refer a Patient
Physicians and healthcare providers can request appointments, start transfers or contact us with questions.