A Guide to Skin Grafting for Vitiligo
Considering vitiligo treatment options? You’ve likely heard about light therapy and topical steroids, but a lesser known form of treatment is skin grafting for vitiligo, a surgical process that uses your own healthy skin to stimulate repigmentation.
How does skin grafting work? And perhaps more importantly, does it hurt? Here’s what you need to know about this form of treatment.
What is skin grafting?
Skin grafting is a procedure in which healthy and pigmented skin is removed from the body and applied to an area of vitiligo to support repigmentation. The healthy skin is also known as the donor site and is usually taken from the buttock or thigh. The area of vitiligo, also referred to as the recipient site, will have the top layer of skin removed then replaced with the healthy skin.
Is vitiligo surgery painful?
At this point, you most likely have two burning questions. Does it hurt? And how much skin do you need? The good news is that a significant volume of donor skin isn’t required for skin grafting. In fact, in most procedures you can expect to treat an area five times as large as the donor site and in some cases it can be 10 times as big. The skin that is taken from the donor site is the very top layer of skin called the epidermis. The epidermis is very thin, only as thick as a single sheet of paper, and will regenerate on its own over time.
Does skin grafting work for vitiligo?
Let’s take a brief moment to talk about the science of why skin grafting works and how it treats vitiligo. At the base of the epidermis (the top layer of skin) there are cells sprinkled throughout called melanocytes. Melanocytes are responsible for producing melanin, which is what gives skin its color and is distributed throughout the epidermis. In vitiligo, the immune system is hyperactive and targets the melanocytes, blocking melanin production and resulting in the loss of pigment from the skin.
With skin grafting, melanocytes from the donor site are contained in the extracted skin and transferred to the recipient site, where they can resume melanin production in their new home. You might wonder what good that does when the immune system could still target these melanocytes. This is why dermatologists won’t recommend this treatment if you have active vitiligo, evidenced by expanding or new areas of vitiligo. If your vitiligo spots haven’t changed recently, then your immune system is likely calm and won’t attack the newly transferred melanocytes. A doctor can confirm how active or inactive your vitiligo is.
Different methods of skin grafting for vitiligo
We’ve been talking about skin grafting broadly, but you might be surprised to learn that there are several different types of skin grafting procedures that are available: tissue grafting and cellular grafting for vitiligo. Here’s a quick list of the options and what you should know about each one.
Tissue Grafting Vitiligo Treatments
Punch Grafts
Punch grafts are one of the more commonly used techniques in skin grafting for vitiligo, mainly due to the procedure’s simplicity. During a punch graft, the doctor will remove a piece of skin that is typically 2 mm in diameter — smaller than the diameter of a straw —and transfer it to a depigmented area of skin that has also had a layer of skin removed.
The name “punch graft” refers to the type of tool that is used to remove the skin sample, which can be described as a circular stencil. Potential side effects or complications that might arise from this technique are imperfect color matching, hyperpigmentation, raised scarring or immune reactions to the foreign skin.
Blister Grafts
Blister grafts are generally safe, easy to perform and low-cost. However, this procedure can be time-intensive. For a blister graft, suction is applied to the donor and recipient sites in order to form blisters, which are areas of skin that are raised and filled with fluid as a result of irritation. This process alone takes anywhere from 1-3 hours.
After the blister has formed, the roof of the blister at the donor site is removed and transplanted to the recipient site where the blister roof has already been removed. With this technique, 65-100% repigmentation can be achieved in up to 80% of patients. Side effects and complications that may occur include hyperpigmentation of donor site, graft rejection and depigmentation surrounding the graft.
Split Thickness Skin Grafting
Split thickness skin grafting (SSG) can cover larger areas than the previous two treatment options, while also producing uniform pigmentation and even surfaces. This is accomplished by extracting the top layer of skin, creating slits in the extracted skin to produce a mesh that expands, and transferring it to the recipient site. However, this process comes with disadvantages, such as poor sensation in the recipient site, graft rejection and a longer period of postoperative wound care.
Cellular Grafting Vitiligo Treatments
Cellular Transplantation
Cellular transplantation, a form of cellular grafting for vitiligo, leverages laboratory techniques to separate living skin cells, including melanocytes from the extracted donor skin, which is obtained through similar techniques as split thickness skin grafting. The cells are then prepared in a cell suspension (cells floating in a neutral liquid).
There are two types of cell grafts. In one case, all the skin cells are separated and put into suspension with minimal processing. In the other type, individual melanocytes are separated and then cultivated in an environment that allows them to multiply. In both cases, the cells are then transferred directly to areas of depigmentation that have had the top layer of skin removed by laser treatment or dermabrasion. However in the U.S., growing or multiplying cells, known as culturing, is strictly regulated by the FDA and is therefore not available for treating loss of pigmentation.
As you can imagine, the latter option requires more lab resources and time before the transplant, but it also allows for the same amount of donor skin to treat much more depigmented skin. Currently, this procedure is considered the most safe and effective treatment for vitiligo.
Skin grafting for vitiligo cost
What about medical costs? And will insurance cover skin grafting for vitiligo? According to the Henry Ford Health website, the average cost for MKTP is $3,500-$4,000. Additionally, it may not be covered by insurance and costs may need to be paid out of pocket.
What does the recovery process look like?
After the procedure, your doctor will give you specific instructions about postoperative care. You can expect to keep the skin graft dry and avoid activities that will stretch the graft for several weeks. Dressings on the donor and recipient sites will likely be worn for up to a week.
Who makes a good candidate for skin grafting?
As with many surgical procedures, there are guidelines to determine if someone is a good candidate for skin grafting for vitiligo. One requirement is that vitiligo has to be stable, meaning that there haven’t been any new or expanding areas of vitiligo in the last 1-2 years.
Additionally, individuals with segmental vitiligo, or areas of depigmentation that are localized to one side of the body, typically make good candidates for skin grafting, achieving repigmentation 80-95% of the time without requiring further treatment.
Learn More: Surgical Treatment for Vitiligo by Dr. John Harris
How can I get started if I’m interested?
If you’d like to learn more about skin grafting for vitiligo and find out if you are a good candidate for this treatment, talk to your dermatologist. Your doctor can help determine if your vitiligo is stable and discuss whether surgery would be the best option for you.
What has been your experience with skin grafting?
Medical Disclaimer: This information is intended for informational purposes only. Consult with your doctor or a professional healthcare provider for medical advice, treatment or diagnosis.
