postgraft

Postgraft refers to the period following a graft procedure, during which the grafted tissue or organ is integrated into the recipient and requires specific care to promote viability. The term is used in medical contexts—such as solid organ, tissue, or bone marrow transplantation—and in horticulture to describe the period after plant grafting.

Medical context: After a graft, the immediate focus is on ensuring graft perfusion, wound healing, and stabilization of the patient. Graft survival depends on revascularization and avoidance of infection or injury. Allografts carry a risk of immune rejection, managed with immunosuppressive therapy that may include calcineurin inhibitors, corticosteroids, and antimetabolites. Monitoring typically involves routine laboratory tests to assess graft function, imaging to evaluate blood flow, and sometimes biopsy to diagnose rejection. Complications can include infection, vascular thrombosis, anastomotic problems, and, in the case of bone marrow or stem cell grafts, graft-versus-host disease. The duration of the postgraft period varies by graft type but often extends from days to weeks for initial stabilization and many months for long-term function.

Horticultural context: In grafted plants, the postgraft period focuses on establishing a successful union between scion and rootstock. Practices include securing the graft, maintaining high humidity and appropriate temperatures, protecting the site from desiccation and pests, and gradually removing support as the union heals. Healing typically progresses over several weeks, with growth and compatibility assessed by callus formation and bud development.

See also: graft rejection, graft-versus-host disease, autograft, allograft, xenograft, skin graft, organ transplant, graft take.