Should I have allograft bone, autograft bone, or synthetic bone?
The decision whether or not to use allograft, autograft, or synthetic bone is based upon many factors including the patient’s smoking history, the patient’s age, the degree of osteoporosis, and the use of an anterior cervical plate. This is an individualized decision and the patient’s own preference is very important in making this decision. Some patients would prefer not to have any foreign material implanted into their bodies and other patients are very eager to avoid the potential pain and morbidity of a graft harvest from their own hip. This is something that really needs to be discussed on an individual basis. Synthetic bone grafts are actually similar to plastic which holds the disc space open until fusion can occur. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) can be used as well to help fusion occur.
