Autologous bone graft vs synthetic bone graft in treatment of non-union in long bones

Introduction: Long bones fractures affect almost all the age groups, including children, youth as well as elderly and postmenopausal women. In epidemiological studies its annual incidence has been found to be close to 1%, with slightly higher incidence in men as compared to women. These fractures are managed both conservatively as well as surgically and heal over due course of time. However, an estimated 5 to 10% of these fractures do not heal within a normal period and are classified as delayed or nonunion fractures. Nonunion is defined as a fracture that has not healed in expected time and there is cessation of physiological process of healing and has not shown any progressive visible radiological sign of healing.Materials and Methods: This is a prospective randomized controlled study. It comprises two groups each having 22 patients. In one group autologous bone graft was used and in the other group synthetic bone graft was used. The maximum follow up was 9 months patients were assessed clinically and radiologically Result: It was found that synthetic bone graft group of the patients have shown better union rates as compared to autologous bone graft clinically and radiologically after 9 months followup.Conclusion: synthetic bone graft has yielded better results than autologus bone graft.