Nationwide survey of bone grafting performed from 1980 through 1989 in Japan

Nationwide surveys were conducted in 1985 and 1989 on the status of bone grafting performed in Japan. At the first survey, questionnaires were sent to 527 hospitals, with 218 responding. Of 26,800 bone grafts performed, 96.4% were autografts, and the remaining 3.6% were allografts and xenografts. Most allografts were bone chip grafts (85%), followed by massive bone grafts excluding osteoarticular grafts (14%). Osteoarticular allografts and whole bone allografts composed only 0.4% and 0.5% of the total, respectively. At the second survey, questionnaires were sent to 2053 hospitals, with 967 responding. The use of synthetic bone substitutes and bone grafts was investigated in the second survey. Of 87,994 bone grafts performed, 94.3% were autografts, 3.2% were synthetic bone substitutes, 1.9% were banked bone allografts, 0.4% were fresh allografts, and 0.2% were xenografts. Most of all grafts were bone chip grafts (57.1%), followed by massive bone grafts excluding osteoarticular grafts (40.3%). Osteoarticular grafts and whole bone grafts accounted for only 0.3% and 2.3% of the totals, respectively. Although the number of patients requiring bone grafts increased yearly, bone allografts were not widely used in Japan.