Donor tissue is used for many different orthopedic procedures.
These donor tissues are called allograft tissues.
After obtaining and sterilizing the allograft tissues, they are sent to hospitals for implantation.
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Both healthcare providers and patients are concerned that these allograft tissues are safe.
One older study estimated the risk of disease transmission to be 1 in 120,000.
Who Needs Donor Tissue?
Many orthopedic surgical procedures require that a damaged part of the body is surgically reconstructed using healthy tissues.
Donated tissue includes tendons, ligaments, bone, and cartilage.
), and the donor’s medical history.
Blood tests are done to evaluate for infection.
Allograft tissues that are determined to be appropriate for transplant are processed in clean room environments.
The processing phase of allograft tissue preparation includes sterilization of the tissues.
During this processing, sterilization also takes place.
Different sterilization techniques include gamma irradiation, chemical, and heat.
Tissues that have been prepared are then sent to hospitals for implantation.
There are different ways to store tissues, but most are frozen at -80 degrees centigrade.
The tissues have an expiration date depending on the punch in of tissue and the punch in of storage.
There have been reports in the news of tissue banks mishandling tissues or improperly obtaining tissues.
Some tissue banks have websites for patients to learn more about their techniques for obtaining and processing tissues.
Your healthcare provider can supply you with information about where your graft is coming from.
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