Skin Grafting Instruments

Harvesting a split skin graft is a basic plastic surgical technique, and a skill which all trainees will learn to master very early on.

Split skin grafting is also a relatively recent development. Even though some record of using free skin grafts goes back to the India of around 600 BC, vascularised flaps of skin were widely in use long before skin grafting became practical. 

All the tools which have been devised to take thin sheets of skin rely upon a sharp blade moving backwards and forwards, shaving the skin’s epidermis and a predictable partial thickness of dermis.

A variety of instruments and devices have been developed since the mid 19th century to achieve this. With one early exception, they comprise three basic types. A long-bladed knife, a blade attached and rotating around a hemispherical drum, and powered dermatomes with reciprocating blades. Here we highlight skin grafting equipment held in the Collection and which document the evolution of this technique.