Anterior iliac crest, posterior iliac crest, and proximal tibia donor sites: a comparison of cancellous bone volumes in fresh cadavers.

PURPOSE: The anterior iliac crest, posterior iliac crest, and proximal tibia are common cancellous donor sites used for autogenous bone grafting. Donor site selection is partly dependent on the expected volume of available bone, but reports of cancellous bone volumes at each of these sites are variable. The goal of this study was to compare the volumes of cancellous bone harvested from donor sites within the same cadaver.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Within each of 10 fresh frozen cadavers, cancellous bone was harvested from 3 donor sites-anterior iliac crest, posterior iliac crest, and proximal tibia-using established surgical techniques. Bone volumes were measured by fluid displacement. Mean compressed cancellous bone volumes from the 3 donor sites were compared among cadavers. Within each cadaver, the 3 donor sites were given a volume rank score from 1 (least volume) to 3 (most volume).

RESULTS: Among cadavers, mean compressed cancellous bone volumes from the proximal tibia (11.3 mL) and posterior iliac crest (10.1 mL) were significantly greater than the anterior iliac crest (7.0 mL). Within cadavers, the mean volume rank score of the proximal tibia (mean rank, 2.7) was statistically greater than that for the posterior iliac crest (mean rank, 2.0), which was statistically greater than that for the anterior iliac crest (mean rank, 1.2). Strong correlations in bone volume existed between the proximal tibia and iliac crests (r = 0.67) and between the anterior iliac crest and posterior iliac crest (r = 0.93).

CONCLUSION: The proximal tibia and posterior iliac crest yielded a significantly greater mean volume of compressed cancellous bone than the anterior iliac crest. Within individual cadaver skeletons, the proximal tibia was most likely to yield the largest cancellous volume, whereas the anterior iliac crest was most likely to yield the smallest cancellous volume. Although the proximal tibia contains relatively large volumes of cancellous bone, further investigation is required to determine how much cancellous bone can safely be harvested.