The use of allografts to reconstruct intercalary defects of long bones

The problems involved in the use of freeze-dried and fresh frozen allografts in the reconstruction of large bony defects were caused by the treatment of a variety of conditions. Twenty-four patients served as a basis for the review with an average of 34.7 months of follow-up study. Fifteen of these patients had, in addition, massive supplemental autografts. Rigid internal fixation consisting of either an intramedullary fluted rod or some combination of AO plate fixation was used in most cases, except in one instance in which no internal fixation was used. There was no difference in the time to incorporation of the freeze-dried and fresh frozen allografts into the host bone bed. No appreciable differences were noted in the group that had massive supplemental autografts, except that there was improvement in the quality of the union. The average time to radiographic union was 14 months. The complication rate in this series of patients was 54%. Most of the complications were minor and resolved with little residual. The overall results produced nine excellent, eight good, three fair, and four poor results. Considering the magnitude of the procedures involved, allografts appeared to have a distinctive place in the surgeon's armamentarium for reconstruction of large bony defects.