[Is allograft a procedure with high-risk in anterior cervical fusion].

Objective The anterior cervical autograft or allograft interbody fusion had become an accepted fusion technique for treating patients with degenerative disorders of the cervical spine. In this retrospectve review, a comparison of allograft and autograft of bone was presented. Methods A retrospective review of 103 patients who had undergone allograft fusion and 145 patients with autograft fusion between 1997 and 2003, was conducted. Demographics, early complications and length of stay of patient were compared. Results Longer time on operation with the use of autograft (P0.001) and significant increase in length of stay were observed after autograft (P0.001). Complication of infections in autograft group was higher than allograft (P0.05). Conclusions Both autograft and allograft were effective during fusion procedures. Allograft did not appear to be a high risk factor and could decrease medical cost thus could be used clinically for anterior cervical fusion.