BACKGROUND: Autologous anterior iliac crest bone graft is still widely considered the gold standard for anterior cervical fusion after discectomy or corporectomy. Postoperative pain at the donor site is one of the main disadvantages to this technique. This prospective study aimed to evaluate pain at the donor site, after careful, standardised bone harvesting. METHODS: From March 2003 to March 2004, a prospective study was performed in a single neurosurgical department on 50 patients who underwent anterior iliac crest bone harvesting using a standard and careful surgical technique. During a one year follow-up, patient donor site pain was assessed with a Visual Analogous Scale (VAS) at 2, 7 and 60 days from surgery and finally, by a telephone interview, at one year. FINDINGS: The duration of time in hospital ranged from 4 to 9 days. On the 2(nd) day after surgery, pain, according to the VAS score, was recorded as being >7 by 4 patients (8%), 5-7/10 by 27 patients and >5/10 in 19 cases. On the 7(th) day after surgery, none of the patients reported any VAS > 7, 1 patient's VAS score was 6/10 and 49 patients had a VAS < 5. At 2 month follow-up, 45 patients were completely without pain (VAS 0) and the remaining 5 had a VAS < 5. At one year, 46 patients reported no pain (one patient was lost to follow-up); three continued to have pain <5 in VAS scale. CONCLUSIONS: After harvesting of bone from the iliac crest, using a standardised approach based on anatomised principles, most patients do not experience persisting pain at the donor site.
BACKGROUND: Autologous anterior iliac crest bone graft is still widely considered the gold standard for anterior cervical fusion after discectomy or corporectomy. Postoperative pain at the donor site is one of the main disadvantages to this technique. This prospective study aimed to evaluate pain at the donor site, after careful, standardised bone harvesting. METHODS: From March 2003 to March 2004, a prospective study was performed in a single neurosurgical department on 50 patients who underwent anterior iliac crest bone harvesting using a standard and careful surgical technique. During a one year follow-up, patientdonor site pain was assessed with a Visual Analogous Scale (VAS) at 2, 7 and 60 days from surgery and finally, by a telephone interview, at one year. FINDINGS: The duration of time in hospital ranged from 4 to 9 days. On the 2(nd) day after surgery, pain, according to the VAS score, was recorded as being >7 by 4 patients (8%), 5-7/10 by 27 patients and >5/10 in 19 cases. On the 7(th) day after surgery, none of the patients reported any VAS > 7, 1 patient's VAS score was 6/10 and 49 patients had a VAS < 5. At 2 month follow-up, 45 patients were completely without pain (VAS 0) and the remaining 5 had a VAS < 5. At one year, 46 patients reported no pain (one patient was lost to follow-up); three continued to have pain <5 in VAS scale. CONCLUSIONS: After harvesting of bone from the iliac crest, using a standardised approach based on anatomised principles, most patients do not experience persisting pain at the donor site.
Authors: Heiko Koller; Jeremy Reynolds; Juliane Zenner; Rosemarie Forstner; Axel Hempfing; Iris Maislinger; Klaus Kolb; Mark Tauber; Herbert Resch; Michael Mayer; Wolfgang Hitzl Journal: Eur Spine J Date: 2009-02-06 Impact factor: 3.134
Authors: Vadim Goz; Zorica Buser; Anthony D'Oro; Christopher Wang; S Tim Yoon; Jong-Beom Park; Jim A Youssef; Hans-Joerg Meisel; Jeffrey C Wang; Darrel S Brodke Journal: Global Spine J Date: 2018-09-06