Doctors say the numbers reflect growing awareness and better coordination with hospitals and tissue banks, but they caution that demand continues to outpace supply.
Published Sep 18, 2025 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 18, 2025 | 7:00 AM
Skin and bone donation. Representative Image. (iStock)
Synopsis: Skin and bone donations in Tamil Nadu are witnessing a steady rise in the first nine months of 2025. This comes on the back of a consistent upward trend since 2022. Doctors say that behind these numbers lie lifesaving interventions.
Skin and bone donations in Tamil Nadu are witnessing a steady rise, with a record 36 skin donations and 86 bone donations in the first nine months of 2025. This comes on the back of a consistent upward trend; skin donations stood at 66 in 2024, while bone donations grew from 52 in 2022 to 111 in 2024.
Doctors say the numbers reflect growing awareness and better coordination with hospitals and tissue banks, but they caution that demand continues to outpace supply.
For burn victims in need of skin grafts and patients requiring bone reconstruction, every donation is critical. As Tamil Nadu strengthens its transplant infrastructure, experts stress that sustained awareness campaigns and public trust will be key to meeting future needs.
Data from the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (Transtan) show that 2024 marked a turning point for cadaveric tissue donation. Skin donations, which had been modest at 16 in 2022 and 23 in 2023, rose more than threefold to 77 in 2024.
Bone donations followed a similar trend, climbing from 50 in 2022 and 57 in 2023 to a record 111 in 2024. With the numbers for 2025 still being collated, experts point to 2024 as the year that established tissue donation as a visible part of Tamil Nadu’s transplant landscape.
Doctors say that behind these numbers lie lifesaving interventions. Donated skin, usually harvested from the chest and thighs of the deceased, can be preserved in skin banks for up to five years.
At Government Kilpauk Medical College, which has one of the state’s full-fledged facilities, preserved grafts are often the only viable option for patients with massive burns.
Specialists emphasise that during the critical third to eighth day after a burn injury, donated skin serves as an essential biological dressing, reducing infection risks and buying time for recovery.
Bone donations, too, have seen wider application in recent years. Processed and preserved in bone banks, the grafts are used in complex reconstructions for patients with bone loss caused by trauma, malignancies, or congenital defects.
Surgeons explain that even small bones such as fibulas can be retrieved and utilised, and if families consent to donating major bones, the potential benefit for patients increases significantly. Experts stress that the retrieved bone is replaced with suitable materials, ensuring the body’s form is restored.
Officials say sustaining this momentum will need more than infrastructure. Doctors stress that the medical fraternity must actively create awareness among families during counselling, while public campaigns should dispel myths of disfigurement.
Skin and bone donations are not just about extending survival but also about preserving quality of life, said Dr S Narayanamurthy, Senior Consultant and HOD, Department of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Microsurgery, MGM Healthcare, Chennai.
“Skin allografts, that is, skin donated from one person to another, are vital in treating patients with extensive burns,” he explained. Patients with burns covering more than 40 perent of their body surface area face high mortality, and since their own skin donor sites are often destroyed, they become dependent on donated grafts. “This is even more important in treating children with burns,” he added.
He pointed out that the role of bone donations has expanded as well, particularly with the rising incidence of bone tumours. In the past, many of these patients required amputations for tumour removal. “With improved techniques, limb salvage has now become possible with the help of acellular bone grafts from deceased persons,” he said.
Limb salvage procedures, he noted, have also grown in demand due to increasing cases of major limb trauma. Awareness of these possibilities has directly contributed to the rise in bone donations in recent years.
Dr Narayanamurthy further observed that most organ donation campaigns tend to focus heavily on the kidneys, liver, lungs, and heart. He stressed the need for these initiatives to also highlight how skin and bone grafts can prevent life loss from burns and limb loss from cancer or trauma.
While solid organ donation saves lives, he said, “it is equally important that we also counsel families regarding skin and bone donations, as these too have significant life-saving potential.”
Looking ahead, he emphasised the need not only to increase awareness but also to expand the system that supports tissue donation. He called for clear guidelines on counselling, more skin and bone banks across the state, and integration of these grafts into both emergency and elective procedures.
“I would definitely like to see greater awareness and more donations. Beyond that, we need more guidelines for counselling and an increase in the number of skin and bone banks,” he said, adding that these tissues are useful not only in emergencies but also in planned surgical procedures.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
