A bone bank, designed to preserve bone parts and fragments for future use in transplants and other orthopaedic surgeries, is being set up at SSKM Hospital. It is likely to open within a fortnight, a hospital official said.
At present, bones lost because of accidents or trauma injuries are disposed of as biomedical waste. Once the bank is functional, these can be disinfected, preserved, and used for reconstruction surgeries.
Doctors said the facility would provide bones for patients who lose part of a limb in an accident or undergo surgery for bone cancer. “Reconstruction of bones is the only option in such cases. A biological tissue has to be used to rebuild the missing portion — there is no artificial substitute,” said Kousik Nandy, consultant orthopaedic oncosurgeon at SSKM Hospital. He added that for patients with bone tumours, only reconstruction surgeries help bone growth.
Two refrigerators capable of maintaining temperatures of minus 80° Celsius have been procured. “The preserved bones can be used for up to five years after disinfection,” Nandy said.
Families of brain-dead donors consenting to organ donation can also donate bones, provided the donor had no transmissible disease or infection. Unlike organs such as the heart or kidney, bone transplants do not require blood group matching between donor and recipient.
Live donors may include patients undergoing hip or knee replacement surgeries, as the removed femoral head or bone section can be donated to the bank, Nandy added.
Doctors welcomed the move.
Rajib Basu, orthopaedic surgeon at Manipal Hospitals, called it a “much-needed initiative.” “A bone bank will be of immense help... The bones can be used for revision surgeries. Biological bone tissue integrates better with the body than metallic implants,” he said.
SSKM officials said disinfection and sterilisation procedures are currently underway. Initially, the stored bones will be used for surgeries at SSKM Hospital, with plans to extend availability to other government and private hospitals in the future.
