In a hospital Seville Grafts are allowed artificial human skin for the first time as therapy. In the corridors of the burn unit we have been working with artificial skin for many years and doctors know the advantages of these fabrics.
Fran is one of the patients of this innovative operation that could have a major impact on burn care. His life changed completely one summer day 7 years ago in Algeciras, southern Spain.
“On August 5, 2017, a light switch blew in the hotel where I was working while we were having dinner and I 75% of his body was burned. Especially his arms and legs, as well as his head, ears, back and buttocks”, said Fran. After arriving at the hospital he was not given any more 48 hours of lifebut now he’s recovered thanks to more than a dozen surgeries and several grafts of his own and artificial skin.
“I took both hands and right arm right from my body. It’s healthy skin that I have and it can be removed from one part of my body and put on another. Real skin is more elastic, whereas artificial skin that skin is tougher, more durable”, explains Fran.
18 people have already undergone treatment
David Rodriguez he is one of the surgeons in the burns department ofVirgen del Rocío university hospital of Seville, where it performs this type of operation. “The culture of keratinocytes has been made for thirty years, the news is that we have permission from the Spanish Medicines Agency to use it as therapy.”
So far they have been made 12 square meters of artificial leather and all are applied to patients, as a whole 18of the Virgen del Rocío hospital.
The treatment after surgery it is particular delicate, due to the patient’s weakness after surgery. “The main thing and what we must always consider in nursing is the risk of infection that we have because these are patients who, losing almost all the integrity of the skin, are very susceptible to any infection,” he explained Carmen Fernandezburn department nurse.
Campos researcher: “A complete change”
Years of research took place before it was approved as a therapy. At the head of these studies is Antonio Camposprofessor ofUniversity of Granada. “We dedicate ourselves to seeing what the natural tissues of our body look like under the microscope. Now we not only see them to better understand the human body, but we make them in the laboratory to treat it. It’s a complete change where we dedicate ourselves with great commitment”, explained researcher Campos.