About the skin bank

Background
The Singapore General Hospital's (SGH) Skin Bank/Skin Culture Laboratory was set up in 1991 to meet the skin graft needs for the treatment of patients with severe burns. It is located within the SGH Burns Centre at Blk 4 Level 3 and is run by the hospital's Department of Plastic Surgery.

Development
In 1991, the Skin Bank/Skin Culture Laboratory processed lyophilised amniotic membranes (obtained during the delivery of babies) which were used as temporary biological dressings for burn patients. But by 1997, the Skin Bank/Skin Culture moved away from the use of amniotic membranes mainly due to the potential risk of HIV transmission. Between 1991 and 2001, the Skin Bank/Skin Culture Laboratory produced cultured epithelial autograft (CEA) for burn patients but on a limited scale due to resource constraint. This technique involves growing a type of human skin cells called keratinocytes from the patient's skin biopsy in culture dishes and grafting the enlarged cultured skin sheet back on the same patient's burn site. In 1998, the Skin Bank/Skin Culture Laboratory stored its first harvested donor skin using cryopreservation (freezing down) technique. A one-year clinical study in 2000 was conducted on the use cryopreserved allograft and it was found that such grafting is a useful and effective treatment in the management of severely burned patients.

Objective of the skin bank
The main objective of the Skin Bank is to provide alternative skin coverage for massive burn patients. As donor skin was found to be an effective treatment for severely burned patients, the Skin Bank/Lab's immediate task is to build up an ample supply of donated skin.

Need for skin donation
Since 1998, the Skin Bank has had an average of 7 donors per year who consenting to donating their skin upon their death. The supply of skin harvested was not sufficient to meet the demand of massive burn cases. Therefore public education on skin donation is of utmost importance and hopefully pledges will increase once the public understands how donated skin can be used to save lives.