Donor site morbidity with reamer-irrigator-aspirator (RIA) use for autogenous bone graft harvesting in a single centre 204 case series

Donor site morbidity and complication rate using the reamer-irrigator- aspirator (RIA) system for intramedullary, non-structural autogenous bone graft harvesting were investigated in a retrospective chart and radiographic review at a University affiliated Level-1 Trauma Centre. 204 RIA procedures in 184 patients were performed between 1/1/2007 and 12/31/2010. RIA-indication was bone graft harvesting in 201 (98.5%), and intramedullary irrigation and debridement in 3 (1.5%) cases. Donor sites were: femur - antegrade 175, retrograde 4, tibia - antegrade 7, retrograde 18. Sixteen patients had undergone two RIA procedures, two had undergone three procedures, all using different donor sites. In 4 cases, same bone harvesting was done twice. Mean volume of bone graft harvested was 47 ± 22 ml (20-85 ml). The complication rate was 1.96% (N = 4). Operative revisions included 2 retrograde femoral nails for supracondylar femur fractures 6 and 41 days postoperatively (antegrade femoral RIA), 1 trochanteric entry femoral nail (subtrochanteric fracture) 17 days postoperatively (retrograde femoral RIA) and 1 prophylactic stabilization with a trochanteric entry femoral nail for intraoperative posterior femoral cortex penetration without fracture. In our centre, the RIA technique has a low donor site morbidity and has been successfully implemented for harvesting large volumes of nonstructural autogenous bone graft.