Comparing morbidities of bone graft harvesting from the anterior iliac crest and proximal tibia: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: The anterior iliac crest (AIC) and proximal tibia (PT) are common donor sites for autologous bone graft harvesting. We compared pain levels at these harvest sites on 1 day, 5 days, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks post-harvest. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 18 patients undergoing autologous bone grafting surgery at a level I trauma center between June 2013 and October 2014. Ten grafts were harvested from the AIC group and eight from the PT group. A standard visual analog scale (VAS) was used to rate pain at the harvest sites on postoperative day (POD) 1, 5, 14, 28, and 56 and at the recipient site on POD 1. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between both groups in age (p = 0.474), gender (p = 1.00), incidence of harvest site morbidity (p = 1.00), and average VAS at the recipient site on POD 1 (p = 0.471). VAS at the harvest site on POD 1, 5, and 14 confirmed statistically that pain was more severe in the AIC group than in the PT group (p < 0.001). However, no significant difference was observed on POD 28 and 56 between both groups. Pain was significantly less on POD 1 in the PT group at the harvest site than at the recipient site (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The PT is a suitable harvest site, producing statistically less pain for at least two postoperative weeks than the AIC. Besides, patients report less postoperative pain at the PT harvest site than at the recipient site.