Reconstruction of iliac crest defect after autogenous harvest with bone cement and screws reduces donor site pain

BACKGROUND: The iliac crest is the most common autogenous bone graft donor site, although associated with postoperative pain, functional disability, cosmesis, morphology and surgical satisfaction. We assessed each aspect above by comparing iliac crest reconstruction with bone cement and screws following harvest with no reconstruction. METHODS: We evaluated patients who underwent large iliac crest harvesting, including ten patients who underwent iliac crest defect reconstruction with bone cement and cancellous screws (R group) and ten randomly matched patients without reconstruction (NR group) were evaluated prospectively in the same period. Local pain, cosmesis and other complications were assessed postoperatively at 1 week, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months. RESULTS: Pain, cosmesis and satisfaction of patients significantly differed between the two groups. The R group exhibited less complications and lower pain visual analogue scores at postoperative 1 week (p < 0.001), 6 weeks (p < 0.001) and 3 months (p < 0.01) but not at 6 months, at which time patients reported almost no pain. One patient reported pain for more than 1 year in the NR group. The R group exhibited better cosmesis, morphology and satisfaction than the NR group. In the NR group, one patient suffered pain when sitting up and another when wearing a belt. CONCLUSION: Postoperative pain can be reduced and cosmesis can be improved through reconstructing the iliac crest defects after autogenous harvesting with bone cement and cancellous screws. The technique is simple, safe and easy to implement.