Equine skin grafting using the punch graft technique

This tutorial aims to illustrate and instruct on the technique of punch skin grafting in the horse.

A 10-year-old paint gelding with a 9 X 6-cm chronic granulating wound to the left forelimb was utilized for this tutorial.

The chronic wound was debrided with sharp dissection, and the limb was pressure bandaged overnight. Twenty-four hours later, the horse was sedated for punch skin grafting. The ventral pectoral region was aseptically prepared for skin harvest and locally anesthetized. An 8-mm biopsy punch was used to harvest the grafts. The subcutaneous tissue was then removed with a sharp No. 10 blade, with care taken to be as atraumatic as possible. A 6-mm skin biopsy punch was used to create recipient sites in the granulation bed. The grafts were placed with assistance of Brown-Adson tissue forceps and cotton-tipped applicators with attempt to orient the hair in the proper direction. The limb was bandaged with a nonadherent bandage. The owner was advised to carefully remove the bandage in 7 days using saline to prevent grafts from sticking to the bandage.

The wound was completely epithelialized and hair growth was seen at the site by 5 weeks after surgery.

Punch skin grafting is a procedure that can be performed by general practitioner veterinarians to improve and speed skin healing in regions where a healthy bed of granulation tissue is present.