Twenty-five years of clinical experience with bone banking in Israel.
BACKGROUND
Bone banking and the clinical use of banked tissue are the most common forms of allopreservation and transplantation in modern medicine.


OBJECTIVE
This article reviews 25 years (1973-98) of experience in bone banking in Israel.


METHODS
A nationwide survey on the clinical application of the banked musculoskeletal tissues during 1996 was conducted by means of a written questionnaire sent to all orthopedic departments in Israel.


RESULTS
The response rate to the questionnaire was 84%. A total of 257 cases were allocated bone allografts: the majority comprised 225 spongy bones, 26 were massive bone allografts and 6 were soft tissue allografts.


CONCLUSIONS
Improvement of quality control and quality assurance of the banked tissues, together with development of skills in the use of osteoinductive and osteoconductive materials, cast the future of musculoskeletal tissue banking.
Salai
M
M
Department of Orthopedic Surgery A, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel. salai_dr@netvision.net.il
Pritsch
M
M
Amit
Y
Y
Israeli
A
A
Chechick
A
A
D018586:Bone Banks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011786:Quality Control; D019737:Transplants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016896:Treatment Outcome