Banked bone.

Many forms of banked bone allograft are available to the surgeon. Among the grafts available are fresh, fresh-frozen, freeze-dried, and demineralized bone. Each one of these grafts carries risks and has unique limitations and handling properties. In order to use these materials appropriately, the surgeon must be familiar with the properties of each and must feel confident that the bone bank providing the graft is supplying a safe and sterile graft. In the future, allograft bone will become obsolete. In place of banked bone, surgeons will use synthetically produced bone morphogenic protein that has been incorporated into an absorbable matrix. These materials will exist in a time-release form that will allow the graft material to grow and mature with the patient. Until this goal is achieved and is available clinically, surgeons must be familiar with the capabilities and limitations of banked bone graft.