Cancellous allograft in revision total hip arthroplasty. A clinical review

There are numerous indications for the use of cancellous allograft bone in the context of revision hip arthroplasty. These indications range from the well-documented use of morselized bone chips to fill cavitary defects during cementless acetabular reconstructions--in which complete or near-complete graft remodeling is expected--to the use of particulate allografting with bipolar hemiarthroplasty for acetabular revision, which largely has been abandoned because of frequent component migration, graft resorption, and clinical failure. Most other indications, including femoral and acetabular impaction allografting techniques, curettage of osteolytic defects with component retention, and complex reconstructions using acetabular reconstruction rings or cages with cancellous donor bone, are controversial but are supported by published clinical series. The current study reviews the literature on cancellous allografting in revision total hip arthroplasty.