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A Simple Method of Skin Grafting in Chickens
A Simple Method of Skin Grafting in Chickens LYMAN B. CRITTENDEN United States Department of Agriculture* (Received for publication April 8, 1963)
A
* Poultry Research Branch, Animal Husbandry Research Division, ARS, Regional Poultry Research Laboratory, East Lansing, Michigan. The tarsus (tarsometatarsus) of the foot has sometimes been called "shank" in the literature.
FIG.1. A device for holding chickens while performing skin grafts on their tarsi.
Bard-Parker blade #11 was used to remove two scales with some subcutaneous tissue. The scales were picked u p as a unit with fine forceps and placed on a pad of sterile paper towel soaked with tissue culture feeder medium 199 to keep them moist (physiological saline is adequate). The graft bed was then wiped free of excess blood, and the donor scales placed on the bed with the scales overlapping in the opposite direction from the host scales. The tissue was then pressed into place with a strip of sterile paper towel held between the thumbs and forefingers of the two hands. A three-fourths b y three inch plastic bandage was then wrapped tightly around the whole tarsus and care was taken not to slide the graft on the bed. A bandage made of plastic which stretches fits the variable contour of the t a r s u ~ I. t~ was found convenient to graft a t two sites on each tarsus. %Johnsonand Johnson "plastic strips" were the best of the brands tried.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Wayne State University on April 13, 2015
S I M P L E method of skin grafting is required if extensive studies of histocompatibility are attempted. Bailey and Usama (1960) have introduced a simple method of grafting skin on mouse tails. The use of the tail skin covered with scales enabled them to place the grafts in place without sutures or other special methods necessary when grafting soft skin. This technique suggested the use of chicken tarsal1 skin for the same reasons. Preliminary trials suggested that the transplantation of two of the large scales on the anterior surface of the tarsus is a simple procedure for grafting with a minimum of hemorrhage. The next step was to devise a method of holding several chickens on their backs with their tarsi stationary and accessible. The device shown in Figure 1 served this purpose, keeping the tarsi well apart and elevated. The two halves of the wooden blocks holding the legs were held in position b y two vertical metal pins fitting through holes in the upper half and pulled down b y a strip of elastic rubber. The pair of chickens between which grafts were to be exchanged were placed side b y side and the tarsi wiped with 70% alcohol. The grafting sites were chosen in areas where the scales were approximately the same size and the application of a plastic bandage would be easy and not restrict circulation when pulled tight. A
1399
SKIN GRAFTING
B
B •""UBS
FIG. 2. Two autografts showing the grafted scales clearly in place (A). Two rejected homografts showing scar tissue only (B).
peared to be normal at least through 100 days. The method outlined is extremely easy and quite free of technical failure. In a series of 500 grafts performed only two were knocked off by the chickens or spoiled on removal of the bandage. Two people could perform at least 160 grafts in one day, while 200 is a reasonable number with practice. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is indebted to Mr. Curtis Bartlett and Mr. Thomas Wilcox for help in designing and building the holding devices and to Dr. Alfred M. Lucas for the photographs. REFERENCE Bailey, D. W., and B. Usama. 1960. A rapid method of grafting skin on tails of mice. Transplantation Bulletin, 7: 424-425.
NEWS AND NOTES (Continued from page 1397) Agriculture boys and girls have attended as delegates. Many of these students have chosen the poultry industries for careers. Jerry Webb, Berryville, Arkansas, is the recipient of the $1000 1963 Junior Poultry and Egg Fact Finding Conference Scholarship Award. This Award is
made annually from Chicago Mercantile Exchange Funds administered by the Institute of American Poultry Industries and is limited to outstanding delegates who have participated in the Junior Fact Finding Conference. Webb expects to enroll at the University of
{Continued on page 1417)
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Wayne State University on April 13, 2015
The bandages were removed on the sixth day after grafting with little danger of pulling off the graft. The chickens were held in wire floored batteries for about one month, then placed on the floor. Catching hooks should not be used during the period of observation. The first sign of rejection was a reddish discoloration and later in many cases it could be seen that fluid collected under the scales. The scales sloughed off at variable time intervals after the first signs of rejection. Therefore, the best criterion of time to rejection appeared to be the number of days to definite signs of discoloration. Rejected and accepted grafts could usually be distinguished for at least six months after grafting. However, in some cases of slow rejection, particularly in one inbred line, absolute distinction between permanently accepted and rejected grafts was difficult (unpublished data). More experience is needed to evaluate this method under some conditions. Figure 2 shows two autografts (A) and two rejected homografts (B) approximately six months after grafting. The scales of the autografts can be seen to be intact and overlapping in the opposite direction from the host scales, while the site of the homografts shows only scar tissue with no regenerated scales. The autografts shown were two of a series of 90 performed as controls. Four of these showed what was considered to be very early questionable signs of rejection, but all remained on the birds and ap-
A
* Poultry Research Branch, Animal Husbandry Research Division, ARS, Regional Poultry Research Laboratory, East Lansing, Michigan. The tarsus (tarsometatarsus) of the foot has sometimes been called "shank" in the literature.
FIG.1. A device for holding chickens while performing skin grafts on their tarsi.
Bard-Parker blade #11 was used to remove two scales with some subcutaneous tissue. The scales were picked u p as a unit with fine forceps and placed on a pad of sterile paper towel soaked with tissue culture feeder medium 199 to keep them moist (physiological saline is adequate). The graft bed was then wiped free of excess blood, and the donor scales placed on the bed with the scales overlapping in the opposite direction from the host scales. The tissue was then pressed into place with a strip of sterile paper towel held between the thumbs and forefingers of the two hands. A three-fourths b y three inch plastic bandage was then wrapped tightly around the whole tarsus and care was taken not to slide the graft on the bed. A bandage made of plastic which stretches fits the variable contour of the t a r s u ~ I. t~ was found convenient to graft a t two sites on each tarsus. %Johnsonand Johnson "plastic strips" were the best of the brands tried.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Wayne State University on April 13, 2015
S I M P L E method of skin grafting is required if extensive studies of histocompatibility are attempted. Bailey and Usama (1960) have introduced a simple method of grafting skin on mouse tails. The use of the tail skin covered with scales enabled them to place the grafts in place without sutures or other special methods necessary when grafting soft skin. This technique suggested the use of chicken tarsal1 skin for the same reasons. Preliminary trials suggested that the transplantation of two of the large scales on the anterior surface of the tarsus is a simple procedure for grafting with a minimum of hemorrhage. The next step was to devise a method of holding several chickens on their backs with their tarsi stationary and accessible. The device shown in Figure 1 served this purpose, keeping the tarsi well apart and elevated. The two halves of the wooden blocks holding the legs were held in position b y two vertical metal pins fitting through holes in the upper half and pulled down b y a strip of elastic rubber. The pair of chickens between which grafts were to be exchanged were placed side b y side and the tarsi wiped with 70% alcohol. The grafting sites were chosen in areas where the scales were approximately the same size and the application of a plastic bandage would be easy and not restrict circulation when pulled tight. A
1399
SKIN GRAFTING
B
B •""UBS
FIG. 2. Two autografts showing the grafted scales clearly in place (A). Two rejected homografts showing scar tissue only (B).
peared to be normal at least through 100 days. The method outlined is extremely easy and quite free of technical failure. In a series of 500 grafts performed only two were knocked off by the chickens or spoiled on removal of the bandage. Two people could perform at least 160 grafts in one day, while 200 is a reasonable number with practice. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is indebted to Mr. Curtis Bartlett and Mr. Thomas Wilcox for help in designing and building the holding devices and to Dr. Alfred M. Lucas for the photographs. REFERENCE Bailey, D. W., and B. Usama. 1960. A rapid method of grafting skin on tails of mice. Transplantation Bulletin, 7: 424-425.
NEWS AND NOTES (Continued from page 1397) Agriculture boys and girls have attended as delegates. Many of these students have chosen the poultry industries for careers. Jerry Webb, Berryville, Arkansas, is the recipient of the $1000 1963 Junior Poultry and Egg Fact Finding Conference Scholarship Award. This Award is
made annually from Chicago Mercantile Exchange Funds administered by the Institute of American Poultry Industries and is limited to outstanding delegates who have participated in the Junior Fact Finding Conference. Webb expects to enroll at the University of
{Continued on page 1417)
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Wayne State University on April 13, 2015
The bandages were removed on the sixth day after grafting with little danger of pulling off the graft. The chickens were held in wire floored batteries for about one month, then placed on the floor. Catching hooks should not be used during the period of observation. The first sign of rejection was a reddish discoloration and later in many cases it could be seen that fluid collected under the scales. The scales sloughed off at variable time intervals after the first signs of rejection. Therefore, the best criterion of time to rejection appeared to be the number of days to definite signs of discoloration. Rejected and accepted grafts could usually be distinguished for at least six months after grafting. However, in some cases of slow rejection, particularly in one inbred line, absolute distinction between permanently accepted and rejected grafts was difficult (unpublished data). More experience is needed to evaluate this method under some conditions. Figure 2 shows two autografts (A) and two rejected homografts (B) approximately six months after grafting. The scales of the autografts can be seen to be intact and overlapping in the opposite direction from the host scales, while the site of the homografts shows only scar tissue with no regenerated scales. The autografts shown were two of a series of 90 performed as controls. Four of these showed what was considered to be very early questionable signs of rejection, but all remained on the birds and ap-