Understanding and Perceptions of Skin Donation and Skin Banking among Health Care Professionals – Tertiary Care Centre in Eastern India

Introduction: The skin is our body’s most diverse organ. Other organs, such as the kidneys and liver, could be impaired and somehow still function, but the loss of 40percent of someone’s skin can be fatal. In developing countries, burns led to the deaths of the majority of people. The study aimed to establish the relationship between medical professionals’ awareness and attitudes regarding skin donation and skin banking. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, AIIMS, Odisha, between August 2020 to November 2020. A total of 124 health care practitioners from AIIMS, BBSR responded to the survey questions. It is divided into five sections: Social and economic data; Skin donation awareness survey, and skin bank attitude scale. Results: Less than half of health care professionals, 53.74 %, reported a lack of awareness of skin donation, and 56.16 per cent said lack of understanding of skin bank. The fair, positive relationship prevailed among skin donation awareness, and then either attitude (r=0.36, P=0.01), and a similar relationship existed between skin banking awareness and attitude (r=0.32, P=0.01). According to the report’s findings, having a clear understanding of skin donation and skin banking leads to positive behaviours. Conclusion: In this review, health care professionals’ awareness of skin donation and skin banking is average. Hospital and nursing administrators should be actively involved in education programmes to enhance nurses’ education and increase awareness about skin donation and skin banking.

A Review of Skin Banking Guidelines and Standards Worldwide: Towards the Harmonization of Guidelines for Skin Banking in Therapeutic Applications for the Regions under the Asia Pacific Burn Association (APBA)

Currently, there are no harmonized guidelines which govern skin banking in the Asia Pacific region. Therefore, skin banks are either unregulated or rely on their nation’s legislation or international accreditation to uphold their quality standards. A new set of skin banking guidelines was developed through a comprehensive review and collation of best international practices for the Asia Pacific Burn Association (APBA) members, from donor screening and testing, to skin recovery, processing, storage and distribution, and quality assurance. National regulatory requirements reviewed include the European directives, Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration and Singapore’s tissue banking standards. Further technical and quality management recommendations are referenced from the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB), the United States Food and Drug Administration standards and guidance documents, various relevant European guides, Japanese Society of Tissue Transplantation guidelines and the Asia Pacific Association of Surgical Tissue Banking. Adapted mainly from the AATB standards, the new Asia Pacific Burn Association Guidelines for Skin Banking in Therapeutic Applications offer a comprehensive manual, addressing: governance and contracts; staff responsibilities; quality management; facilities, equipment and supplies management; donor consent and testing; and recommendations of good practices pertaining to skin recovery, processing, storage and distribution. Besides complementing current generic regulations, they provide technical specifications of major aspects unaddressed in most legislations. This inaugural set of new regional skin banking guidelines would be a start for regional members of the APBA to adopt, and will hopefully culminate in a set of standards so that, in the long run, skin allografts from this region can be of similar quality, which can simplify import process and facilitate the exchange of allografts between members.

Advocacy and mass education in plastic surgery: Efforts and outcomes

ABSTRACT Background: Awareness of plastic surgery is lacking. Be it reconstructive surgery, or aesthetic surgery, public education and awareness regarding the spectrum is the need of the hour. Materials and Methods: We undertook a string of activities for patient awareness and education for burn prevention, occupational hand injuries prevention, skin banking awareness and various other conditions relevant to us as plastic surgeons. Use of social media helped us for increasing the reach of our projects. Observation and Results: Some of the projects we started, we are still pursuing with sincerity, and some never really picked up. A wide range and spectrum of activities were undertaken, and we would like to think that we have made some impact towards advocacy of plastic surgery; however, the measurable impact of these initiatives is questionable. Conclusion: Collective efforts for promotion of the speciality using innovative methods, use of celebrities for awareness and social media amongst other things must be undertaken to make a sustained and demonstrable impact towards advocacy of plastic surgery.