Bone marrow/allograft component therapy. A clinical trial.

Bone graft is required in clinical orthopedic situations that involve a skeletal defect. Whether the defect is the result of trauma or surgery, autogenous iliac bone graft is the gold standard of therapy. The author used autogenous bone marrow/cancellous allograft as a bone graft substitute in 19 consecutive patients with a bony defect (synthetic bone substitutes were not available commercially when the series began). In this prospective study, both clinical and radiographic outcomes were followed. Of the patients, 100% were clinically healed at the site of grafting; 95% achieved radiographic union. No patients had surgical or postoperative complications. A bone marrow/allograft is a viable alternative to an iliac bone graft.