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Bone Grafts
Reviewed by Medicinsk Expert•Last updated: 2026-10-22•Transplantation Donation

Bone Grafts

Bone grafts transplant bone tissue to repair and rebuild diseased or damaged bones, using either donor bone (allograft) or your own bone (autograft).

Overview

Bone graft transplants bone tissue. Surgeons use bone grafts to repair and rebuild diseased bones in your hips, knees, spine, and sometimes other bones and joints. Grafts can also repair bone loss caused by some types of fractures or cancers. Once your body accepts the bone graft, it provides a framework for growth of new, living bone.

Types of Bone Grafts

Allograft

If the transplanted bone comes from another person, it is called an allograft. Most allograft bone comes from donors who have died. Tissue banks screen these donors and disinfect and test the donated bone to make sure it is safe to use.

Autograft

If the transplanted bone comes from another part of your own body, it is called an autograft. Autograft bone often comes from your ribs, hips or a leg.

Frequently Asked Questions

Doctors look at the size and location of the bone defect, the patient’s overall health, and whether the patient has enough healthy bone elsewhere to harvest. For small defects or when the patient’s own bone can be easily taken (e.g., from the rib or iliac crest), an autograft is preferred because it carries no risk of immune rejection. For larger defects, or when the patient cannot tolerate a second surgical site, an allograft from a tissue bank is chosen; it offers a ready supply of bone with minimal donor site morbidity.
Yes, living donors can provide bone from sites such as the iliac crest or rib. Eligibility criteria include being in good health, having no bone disease, and meeting the tissue bank’s screening protocols for infectious diseases. Donors must also be willing to undergo a surgical procedure and recovery period.===
Initial healing usually takes 6–12 weeks for the graft to fuse with the host bone, but full remodeling can take 6–12 months. Light activities may resume after 4–6 weeks, while heavy weight‑bearing or contact sports are usually delayed until the graft shows solid integration on imaging, often 6–12 months post‑op.
Tissue banks screen donors for infectious diseases, then clean, freeze, and sterilize the bone using methods such as gamma irradiation or chemical decontamination. These steps drastically reduce the risk of disease transmission. However, there is still a small chance of infection or a mild immune response, which is why patients receive prophylactic antibiotics and are monitored closely after surgery.
Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine

MedlinePlus brings together authoritative health information from the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations.

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