More weighted cancellous bone can be harvested from the proximal tibia with less donor site pain than anterior iliac crest corticocancellous bone harvesting: retrospective review

Background: Iliac crest is the most preferred autogenous bone graft harvesting donor site while it has sorts of complications like prolonged pain, hematoma, and fracture. Harvesting cancellous bone from proximal tibia is also increasingly being used because of lower complications and less donor site pain. However, there are lack of studies to compare these two donor sites in detail. Thus, we proposed to investigate the available amount of autogenous bone graft from the proximal tibia. Methods: Fifty-one patients who underwent simultaneous bone graft harvest from the PT and the AIC to fill up the given critical sized bone defects were enrolled in this study. We prospectively collected data including the weight of the harvested bone, donor site pain using the visual analog scale (VAS) score, and complications between the two sites. Results: The mean weight of cancellous bone harvested from the PT was greater than AIC (33.2g vs. 27.4g, p = 0.001). The mean VAS score was significantly lesser in the PT up to 60 days after harvesting (p < 0.001). There was persistent pain up to 90 days in four PT patients and in seven AIC patients. The major complication was reported only in AIC patients (11.8%). Conclusions: Harvesting cancellous bone from the PT is an acceptable alternative to the AIC for autogenous bone grafting owing to availability of more weighted graft bone and less donor site pain.

Automated summary

The study found that harvesting cancellous bone from the proximal tibia resulted in a greater weight of graft bone and less donor site pain compared to the iliac crest. This suggests that using the proximal tibia as a donor site for autogenous bone grafting is a viable alternative.