Treatment of Osteonecrosis With Autologous Bone Marrow Grafting

Core decompression with bone graft is used frequently in the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head. Many different techniques have been described. In the current series, grafting was done with autologous bone marrow obtained from the iliac crest of patients operated on for osteonecrosis of the hip. The results of a prospective study of 189 hips in 116 patients treated with core decompression and autologous bone marrow grafting are reported. Patients were followed up from 5 to 10 years. The outcome was determined by the changes in the Harris hip score, by progression in radiographic stages, and by the need for hip replacement. The bone marrow was harvested with the patient under general anesthesia. The…