Allografts in sports medicine

Society has long recognized the medical importance of donating and transplanting organs and tissues. Allografts are used routinely for sports medicine applications and in a large variety of other non-sports related surgical procedures. Allogeneic tissue research has been influenced by the increase in demand for transplantable grafts for both non-sport and sport related surgeries. Disease transmission prevention is a key factor in the proliferation and success of the allografts used today. Disease transmission prevention methods are accomplished by social screening, serology, and various types of secondary sterilization. These methods are increasingly assessed and regulated by the FDA, the American Association of Tissue Banks and their accredited member organization tissue banks. Sports medicine surgeons initially used allografts to augment their autograft use when autologous sources were not available. While the number of grafts and types continue to grow, demand continues to increase as well. Some allografts undergo minimal processing and only require minor preparation prior to use, however other procedures require grafts that are sized dimensionally and matched for their recipients. Our continuing experience with a variety of allograft types has led us to conclude that allograft use is a legitimate primary or alternate source in the ligamentous or cartilage reconstruction or transplant in sports medicine. Cost and availability will always limit allograft usage; however concerns regarding inferior clinical results should not. Our experience and those reported by others, indicates that comparable clinical results can be obtained with the added benefit of reduced surgical morbidity by the use of allografts.