A Comparison of the Performance of Irradiated and Non-Irradiated Bone Graft in Hip Surgery

Abstract

A retrospective review of notes and radiographs to assess the clinical outcome for two groups of patients undergoing acetabular revision with impacted morsellised allograft bone, was carried out. One group received fresh frozen allograft bone (20 patients, 22 joints), and the other fresh frozen irradiated allograft bone (18 patients, 20 joints). The extent and type of graft used was recorded. Graft performance was assessed radiologically by observing evidence of collapse, incorporation, lucent lines at the site of grafting and component migration. This assessment was repeated by an independent observer. The average follow-up was thirty months for the non-irradiated grafts and fifteen months for the irradiated grafts at the time of this review. The average time taken for the grafts to show signs of incorporation was seven months for non-irradiated grafts and six months for irradiated grafts. The average time for the grafts to show physiological remodelling was similar between groups at sixteen and thirteen months respectively. There was one case of infection after a direct cup exchange with irradiated bone graft. This analysis demonstrated no obvious difference in the clinical performance of irradiated and non-irradiated morsellised bone grafts.