Lasting solution on skin graft eludes acid attack victims

“I was attacked six years ago. My primary surgery was done then but, till date, I look at myself and hope that there is some treatment available for me, to look like my old self again,” she says, desperately looking for a solution.  

Despite immense development in medicine and technology, the existence of a skin bank in the city, and another one set to come opened soon, the possibility of acid attack victims looking presentable post plastic surgery is still a mere dream. However hard doctors claim to be trying, the victims can never get back their original looks. 

“I feel terrible when my classmates, collegemates and even teachers stare at me. It is really humiliating,” says Mokhima, almost in tears. She is currently undergoing treatment at a camp organised by SIMS Hospital, providing free plastic surgery for 19 others like her. 

While the state boasts of the availability of a skin bank at Stanley Hospital (and one coming up at Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital), it is said that the availability of the skin there is very limited. Also, doctors say that the cadaver skin in the banks can only be used as a temporary treatment. “We can avail skin from the bank, but it can never help the patient as would her own skin. Also, skin from two to three cadavers are used for one single patient,” says Dr Nirmala Ponnambalam, Head of the Burns ward at KMC.  

“Skin from one person does not stick on another. In the initial stage, it is used, as it helps cure the patient. However, as the wounds heal, the skin tends to fall off. Then, we take skin from the victim herself and use that to cover the flesh,” she adds further. 

As the acid penetrates deeper, as compared to other burns, there are instances where even the bones gets damaged. “Acid burns destroy the tissues. Availing that much skin and tissues from the victim herself is not possible. It is therefore impossible to make the patient look presentable. 

Despite stringent laws existing against the availability of the acid – which comprises Nitric and Hydrochloric acid — it is still easily accessible,” said Dr Kartikeyan, Associate Professor, KMC. 

A report by the Acid Survivors Foundation indicates that out of these cases, 80 per cent are women and around 70 per cent are below 18 years of age. The state, however, reported only three to four cases in the past three years. Stating that most cases are from UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Bengal, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Dr Sridhar K, Senior Consultant, SIMS Hospital, says, “Tamil Nadu sees comparatively fewer cases, maybe because of the attitude of the people and the stringent action by the police here.” 

However, social activist Anupriya says that victims in Tamil Nadu fear the social stigma revolving around such attacks and therefore request that it not be recorded as an acid attack. 

Sensitive Issue 

* Skin from a live person can only be that from a parent or a relative 

* Donated skin from a live person, or a cadaver can be used only as a layer until the wound heals

* Donated skin tends to fall off after a victim’s wounds heal 

* Wounds on acid attack victims are much deeper than that of normal burn victims  

* Every year around 1,500 people are attacked in this way across the world