Bone Grafting?
Grafting is not uncommon terminology. It is used in horticulture where you take a cutting of one plant and either insert it into a portion of the same plant OR of another type of plant. Grafting is also used in the medical field. We have all heard of skin grafting which can be from taken from the same individual OR from another. What you may not have known is that bone can also be grafted.
Why would you need to graft bone?
- Bone lengthening
- Filling in the void from bone tumor excision
- Restore length following an osteotomy (bone cut) during a surgical procedure
- Fill in gaps following a major fracture
Basics of bone grafting:
- Autograft comes from you
- Allograft from another individual of the same species
- Synthetic grafts carry properties of bone
- Osteoconduction physical structure to act as a lattice
- Osteoinduction growth factors for bone growth stimulation
- Osteogenesisbone producing cells
Are there different types? YES!
- Tricortical wedges
- Bone chips
- Injectable bone graft YES, injectable. Crazy I know.
Your physician will already have an idea of what type of graft is needed based off of necessity. For restoring length OR maintaining length, a block/wedge of tricortical graft is the best because you will be able to place fixation across it. For void fillers bone chips work great. Your podiatric physician will always keep these amazing grafts in mind for any procedure and will request them when needed.
If you are in need of any foot/ankle care, please contact Dr. Bowman at 713-467-8886 or visit www.houstonfootspecialists.com.
Photo Credit: How Soon Ngu via unsplash.com
Category: General
Tags: bone grafting, Foot