What Is An Autograft?

An autograft refers to the transplantation of bone, organs, or tissues from one part of the body to another. In other words, the donor and the recipient are the same person, as opposed to an allograft, in which the tissue donor and the tissue recipient are two different people. Since a spinal fusion surgery requires a bone graft, patients choose to have either an allograft or an autograft.

When Is An Autograft Needed?

There are risks and benefits associated with both an autograft and allograft. Naturally, bone harvested from the patient’s own body will have a better chance of being accepted by the body, but there are several circumstances that might prevent the patient from being able to use their own bone, including:

• If the patient has osteoporosis, which is a condition that severely lowers bone density
• If the patient is a smoker, his or her bones are likely to be more brittle than those of a non-smoker
• If the patient is elderly or too unwell to undergo the additional trauma of a bone harvesting operation
• If the risk of bone graft site morbidity (BGSM) is very high. BGSM is when pain, bleeding, or infection follows the bone harvesting procedure

Alternative Treatment Options

If you feel like the trauma and risks of a bone graft, whether an allograft or an autograft, outweigh the possible benefits of a spinal fusion surgery, you may want to consider alternative treatment options. Laser Spine Institute offers a variety of minimally invasive, outpatient procedures that have helped tens of thousands of people rediscover their lives without back and neck pain, without risky bone grafts.  Contact us today for a complimentary review of your MRI or CT scan, and to find out more about our safe, effective endoscopic techniques that offer greatly expedited recovery periods.