Threaded cortical bone dowels in lumbosacral arthrodesis: a review.

Lumbar fusion is a common spinal surgery, for which numerous devices have been developed to aid in segment stabilization. A threaded cortical bone dowel is a machined and processed bone allograft which is one such development. Threaded cortical bone dowels are attractive because of their osteoconductive nature and the opportunity to load them with osteogenic morselized bone autograft or osteoinductive growth factors, such as bone morphogenetic proteins. Although threaded cortical bone dowels have been in clinical use for more than 5 years, they have not been the subject of a comprehensive review. The current article covers the history, preparation, uses, safety, and efficacy of threaded cortical bone dowels in lumbosacral interbody fusion.