Vitiligo treatment may be performed through natural remedies or more invasive treatments such as surgery. The autologous skin graft technique is a surgery that will involve getting skin grafts from areas where the skin is normally pigmented and placing them on the areas that are not pigmented. The treatment may be successful, but there are also some risks involved. The surgery is only recommended if there is enough normally pigmented skin.
About Autologous Skin Grafts
Vitiligo is an immune system mediated disease and will be seen on the skin, through depigmented patches. Surgical treatment is not always recommended, but may include the autologous skin graft technique. The autologous skin graft is performed through taking pigmented skin grafts from the patient’s body and placing these on the areas of discolored skin. The immune system may react and start producing pigment in these areas.
The treatment will involve local or general anesthesia, depending on the size of the areas that are affected by vitiligo. The surgery can be performed by a dermatologist of plastic surgeon. The treatment may be combined with other remedies that stimulate the immune system.
Risks and Disadvantages
The treatment is not successful in all cases and there is a high risk of infection and scarring after the treatment. In addition, the body may reject the skin grafts. Other disadvantages of the autologous skin graft technique include the fact that there may be high costs involved. Also, the patient needs to have at least 40% of normally pigmented skin for the treatment to be possible and to have some chances of success.
