ABSTRACT
Free skin grafting has a very long history. In 3000 bc, there was free skin grafting being performed in Egypt and India in almost the same manner as today. However, lacking anesthesia and aseptic technique made it an unpleasant process, which was apt to lead to infection and necrosis. It is only in the last 100 years that the process has been regarded as a formal and safe surgical technique. Yet it was still not widely grasped by surgeons, because of its difficult and immature maneuver. After World War I, several important innovations were achieved for this technique, mainly in three respects:
1. Split-skin graft of intermediated thickness (1) 2. Dermatome and calibrated intermediate skin graft (2) 3. Pressure dressing (3)
Since then free skin grafting has shown its unique and irreplaceable effectiveness in traumatic and plastic surgery. This ‘‘traditional’’ method continues to be used even today.
