Bone Bank: Definition and Objectives
A bone bank is an organized, regulated facility responsible for the procurement, screening, processing, preservation, storage, documentation and distribution of human bone and other musculoskeletal allografts. It may function as an independent tissue establishment or within a hospital, usually under a multidisciplinary team comprising orthopaedic surgeons, tissue-bank personnel, microbiologists, pathologists, radiologists and quality-assurance officers.
The principal objectives are to provide safe biological material for reconstruction of skeletal defects while minimizing the risks of infection, disease transmission, immunological reaction, graft failure and inappropriate use. A modern bone bank must maintain traceability from donor selection to implantation, written informed consent, standardized operating procedures, temperature monitoring, controlled access and a system for recall of grafts if a later safety concern is identified.
Sources of Allograft Bone
- Cadaveric donors: Musculoskeletal tissue is commonly recovered after death, subject to consent and medical screening.
- Living donors: Femoral-head allografts may be obtained during total hip arthroplasty, provided that consent, testing and quality criteria are fulfilled.
- Amputation or operative specimens: Selected tissue may occasionally be recovered under approved protocols.
Bone is generally recovered soon after death or excision, because prolonged warm ischaemia increases cellular death and bacterial proliferation. Recovery is performed using…