Vitiligo treatment may consist of topical therapy, medication treatment or surgery. The skin grafts using blisters is a type of surgery available for vitiligo patients. The surgery is similar to the autologous skin grafts treatment, but this type of treatment has fewer risks of leaving permanent scars than the autologous skin graft technique.
Skin Grafts Using Blisters Procedure
Skin grafts using blisters is a surgical procedure that may be effective in patients that are affected by vitiligo, reducing the visibility of the depigmented skin patches. The surgery is performed by getting some blistered skin from the areas that are pigmented on the patient’s body and grafting these on the areas affected by vitiligo. Alternatively, skin from a healthy patient may be grafted.
The transplant of the skin may require microsurgery and comes with a number of risks such as infection or the rejection of the grafts. The surgery requires local or general anesthesia, depending on the areas treated. The skin grafts using blisters is not recommended in patients that have over 50% of their body affected by vitiligo patches.
Effects of Surgery
The effects of the skin grafts using blisters in patients with vitiligo are variable and the treatment may be successful in some patients. Some patients may show no change after such a surgery.
When compared to the autologous skin graft technique, the blister grafts technique has lower chances of being successful. However, this technique will not leave scars, which may be possible in the case of the traditional skin grafting.
