Retrospective review of donor site complications after harvest of cancellous bone from the anteriomedial tibia.

Donor site morbidity is important in deciding the site for harvest of cancellous bone for alveolar bone grafts. Many studies have supported the view that tibia is safe with few complications in the short term. We know of no studies on the long-term complications to the donor site after tibial bone grafting in children with alveolar clefts. The casenotes of 40 children who had had tibial bone grafts for alveolar clefts were studied retrospectively, and parents or patients were contacted by telephone and a standardised questionnaire was used to assess any long term complications at the donor site. We found none. We found no evidence of long-term complications at the donor site in children who had had proximal tibial bone grafting for secondary repair of alveolar clefts. We conclude that the proximal tibia is a safe site from which to obtain cancellous bone graft for alveolar clefts in children. This study is preliminary, and highlights the need for a randomised trial.