Recovery and banking: allograft bone

Orthopedic surgeries often require bone grafts to replace lost bone. When using the patients own bone is not an option--by choice or dictated by the type or quantity of preferred graft material--bone from a tissue bank may be the answer. A call is made and the order is placed. However, bone grafts are not manufactured like metal implants; they were once a part of a living human being. This article explains the special role tissue banks perform in providing bone and connective tissue grafts.