Allografts
For surgeries that require reconstruction due to damaged or torn ligaments, tendon, cartilage or bone, your surgeon may choose to use an allograft from a donor. The donor tissue is recovered and tested under very strict guidelines to ensure the donor tissue is safe and effective for your reconstruction procedure. Many autograft procedures can also be performed with allograft by employing the same techniques. Examples of these surgeries are listed here:
ACL reconstruction for knee instability – Semitendinosus and/or gracilis tendon (hamstring), patella tendon with bone, quadriceps tendon, peroneus tendon, Achilles tendon, anterior and posterior tibialis tendons
Fracture care – Bone grafts of various size, shape and consistency
Latarjet for shoulder instability – Distal tibia bone (ie, ankle bone)
Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction/Little League Elbow/Tommy John Surgery for elbow instability – Gracilis tendon, peroneus tendon, anterior and posterior tibialis tendons
ArthroFLEX Dermal Allograft
Orthopedic injuries to connective/soft tissue (ligaments, tendons, joint capsule) can be significant enough that a repair needs additional support to secure it properly. Your surgeon may augment the repair with allograft tissue to provide additional reinforcement at the suture-tendon interface and to help protect the repair. The ArthroFLEX dermal allograft is made from donated human skin. It undergoes a process to remove most donor cells and DNA material from the scaffold to minimize the chances of an inflammatory response or rejection. It is used routinely in rotator cuff and Achilles tendon surgery but can be used anywhere to supplement the repair of poor-quality tissue.
*ArthroFLEX is a registered trademark of LifeNet Health.
BioUni Technique
When a cartilage lesion is elongated in shape, deep, and includes underlying bone damage, your surgeon may choose to use allograft (donor) to replace the damaged cartilage. In an allograft OATS® procedure, the damaged cartilage is replaced by healthy cartilage and bone from a donor. The BioUni OATS procedure is an innovative cartilage replacement procedure that allows the surgeon to replace elongated cartilage defects with a single piece of allograft cartilage instead of multiple circular pieces.