Meeting the demands for bone allografts: Challenges during COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Background: Bone allografts have been an integral part of orthopedic procedures such as revision hip surgery or reconstruction of large bone defects. Femoral heads and necks were harvested from living donors undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA). They were stored fresh frozen or processed into bone chips by the Innsbruck Bone Bank. The challenge was to meet the demand for bone grafts through in-house manufacturing even during Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. Method(s) Key data from the bone bank's registry and the hospital administration between January 2019 and March 2022 were analysed with regard to collection of fresh frozen allogenic femoral heads /necks and the manufacture of bone chips and their discard. Donor suitability and release criteria were assessed in accordance with EU and national legislation. Result(s) In 1,249 primary THA surgeries 640 femoral heads and necks were harvested. In the mean 51.4% of these yielded the bulk material for bone chips manufacture. Due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions the number of grafts retrieved was lowest in Q1 2020 and Q4 2021. The proportion of unreleased transplants remained fairly consistent at 14%, but the reasons for discard varied technical issues were eliminated, but the increase for discard to >30% due to reasons in donor history required the revision of the questionnaire and the collaboration with the team responsible for listing diagnoses in the medical records. By 2020, the bone chip discard rate had increased to 8%. Hence modification of cleaning and gowning brought it back down to 2% . Conclusion(s) Providing high quality bone allografts is a complex task. In this context, it is important to regularly evaluate the registry data and to modify the process accordingly, thus ensuring adequate supply of allografts even in times of significant restrictions.