A surgical technique for experimental free skin grafting in mice

In 3031 inbred mice, 3093 allogeneic free skin grafting procedures, including 62 double grafts, were performed using trunk skin as the graft tissue. We developed a new method of graft bed preparation, using corneal scissors for the incision of the square frame of the graft bed and gauze sponges held in a pair of mosquito forceps for the blunt dissection of recipient skin. This method effectively preserved the panniculus carnosus of the graft beds. Grafts from the donor trunk skin were also prepared by a new method in which the skin was spread on aluminium foil, cleaned of superfluous tissues using large gauze sponges held in forceps, cut into appropriately sized grafts with a scalpel, and marked by scoring in order to designate the original direction of the grafts. The graft was approximated to the graft bed by 8 interrupted sutures of 5-0 silk, then covered with a bandage and protective tape for 7 days. The overall operative and postoperative mortality, in most cases attributable to overdoses of anesthetic drugs, was 3.8 per cent (114/3031) and the overall graft failure rate, in most instances due to incorrect covering of the grafts, infection or inside-out-grafting, was 1.2 per cent (36/2979).