Skin graft

A skin graft is skin detached from a donor site and transferred to another site. It supplies tissue to cover an area where skin has been lost or removed. The basic distinction is between moving living skin and merely placing a protective covering over a surface.^[ref]

A skin graft does not carry a functioning connection to its original blood supply. Its survival depends on conditions at the receiving site and the establishment of a new supply through blood vessels. The successful integration of the transferred skin is called graft take. This explains why covering an area and sustaining the transferred tissue are different biological requirements.^[ref]

For a conceptual example, two equally sized pieces of skin could cover the same surface area, yet their survival could differ if the receiving tissues differ in their ability to support a blood supply. Geometry alone cannot establish that a living graft will integrate.