[Voluminous bone graft harvesting of the femoral marrow cavity for autologous transplantation. An indication for the"Reamer-Irrigator-Aspirator-" (RIA-)technique].

Due to their excellent osteoinductive, osteogenetic, and osteoconductive properties, autologous bone grafts possess biomechanical advantages over synthetic bone substitutes. Furthermore, unlike cadaveric allografts and xenografts, they carry no risk of immunogenic response or transmission of infectious diseases. However, the limited availability of autologous bone grafts requires the use of the above-mentioned bone substitutes for management of large bone defects. The"Reamer-Irrigator-Aspirator-" (RIA-)technique may present an alternative method for harvesting a larger volume of autologous bone graft as compared with conventional harvesting procedures. We report on intramedullary reaming by the RIA technique to obtain autologous bone graft for a nonunion of the proximal femur. The contralateral femur was reamed and the bone graft was applied to the nonunion. The patient showed clinical and radiological healing of the nonunion without donor site complications.