China Medical University doctor completes landmark treatment

A doctor from the China Medical University in Shenyang, Northeastern China's Liaoning province, performed successful cryopreservation and transplantation of autologous skin.

A month ago, a woman was injured in a car accident. Her left lower abdomen and thigh were badly damaged, causing an extensive skin lesion.

Tian Lijie, who specializes in hand-and-foot microsurgery, led his research team that creatively preserved the patient's partly-damaged skin at the low temperature of -196 ℃ in liquid nitrogen for 13 days, in order to maintain and maximize cell activity.

The operation took place only after granulation tissue on the patient’s wounded body parts had fully redeveloped, and after the patient had received sufficient medical support, including mental and nutritional care.

The skin preserved in situ, or in place, was immediately taken out for grafting. The operation proved successful, with the survival rate of the grafted skin reaching 95 percent.

An autologous skin transplant has been performed before, but this is the first time worldwide that the entire process, from the preservation of the skin to the operation, was conducted at one single medical institution.