Femoral Head Living Donor
BIS and the Netherlands Bone bank Foundation (NBF) run the ‘femoral head project’ to satisfy the growing demand for autologous and post mortem bone tissue.
Bone tissue is taken from patients whose femoral heads are removed during an orthopaedic or trauma operation.
The femoral head can be used to transplant into recipients who are in need of the renewal of diseased or degenerated bone, for example in reconstructing a total hip or when performing a spinal column revision.
Support and advantages
The procedure that BIS and the NBF follow is aimed at facilitating the work of orthopaedic surgeons and hospital personnel.
BIS provides in this respect as much support as possible in handling femoral heads and takes over the responsibility for registration, testing, transport, treatment and storage.
BIS and the NBF perform these tasks in accordance with the directives of the European Association of Musculoskeletal Transplantation (EAMST).
The femoral head project offers a number of advantages to orthopaedic surgeons and hospitals.
One of these is the amount of time saved. After the removal of the bone, one telephone call is all that is needed for the procedure to commence.
The fact that a physician who needs bone tissue can simply order it from BIS is an additional advantage.
Another is the guarantee that the tissue is of high quality. Because of the strict quality and safety procedures followed by BIS and NBF, physicians know that they will receive safe grafts. Finally, the costs can be kept relatively low because all femoral heads are stored in one central bank.
Patient information
Physicians are increasingly confronted with patients asking questions about femoral head donation.
Therefor, a special leaflet for patients has been developed on this subject.
The leaflet explains the importance of donating femoral heads for transplantation purposes and provides an answer to the question of who is not suitable as a donor.
In addition, it also describes the donation procedure.
The leaflet, in Dutch, can be obtained free of charge from BIS.
You can call (+31) 71-5795720 or send an email: bone@bisfoundation.nl
