Intermediate
Technical
In the Industry Vocabulary Test
autograft
Patient's own skin transplanted from unburned area to cover burn wound.
Full Definition
A skin graft harvested from an unburned area of the same patient and transplanted to cover a burn wound. Autografts represent the gold standard for permanent wound coverage as they provide the best cosmetic and functional outcomes with no risk of rejection. The donor site must be carefully selected and managed, as it creates a secondary wound. Split-thickness autografts are most commonly used in burn reconstruction.
In Context
- "Split-thickness autograft from the left thigh was applied to the debrided burn on the right arm." — operative report
- "Adequate donor sites for autograft were limited due to the extensive nature of the burns." — treatment plan
Also known as
autologous graft
auto-graft
Contrasted with
allograft
xenograft
Don't confuse with
allograft
isograft