Failure of osseous conduction with cervical interbody BOP graft

We report three patients treated for cervical radiculopathy by anterior cervical discectomy and BOP grafting. Because of recurrent symptoms re-exploration was carried out 30 months later in the first case, 10 months in second and 8 months in the third case. At reoperation the grafts were disrupted into easily separable fibres. Histologically, there were no osteoblast or fibroblast cells or new bone formation. We suggest that contrary to the manufacturer's claims, the material acts only as a "spacer" and does not conduct bone formation.