What are the advantages of using bone allograft vs. autograft?
Not having to procure autograft reduces your surgery time and cost. And you avoid the potential morbidity associated with autograft procurement. In humans, the morbidity rate associated with the collection of bone autograft is over 25%. Studies show that allografts are as effective as autograft in bone healing. While autograft has the advantage of being osteogenic, allograft is demineralized before it is placed into the surgery site allowing for immediate access to growth factors. This offsets the advantage of osteogenicity and helps to make allograft as effective as autograft in long-term studies. Because allograft is as effective as autograft and makes graft harvest unnecessary, allograft is the grafting option of choice.
