NATIONWIDE SURVEY OF BONE-GRAFTING PERFORMED FROM 1980 THROUGH 1989 IN JAPAN

Nationwide surveys were conducted in 1985 and 1989 on the status of bo ne grafting performed in Japan, At the first survey, questionnaires we re sent to 527 hospitals, with 218 responding, Of 26,800 bone grafts p erformed, 96.4% were autografts, and the remaining 3.6% mere allograft s and xenografts. Most allografts were bone chip grafts (85%), followe d by massive bone grafts excluding osteoarticular grafts (14%), Osteoa rticular allografts and whole bone allografts composed only 0.4% and 0 .5% of the total, respectively, At the second survey, questionnaires w ere sent to 2053 hospitals, with 967 responding, The use of synthetic bone substitutes and bone grafts was investigated in the second survey , Of 87,994 bone grafts performed, 94.3% were autografts, 3.2% were sy nthetic bone substitutes, 1.9% were banked bone allografts, 0.4% mere fresh allografts, and 0.2% were xenografts, Most of all grafts were bo ne chip grafts (57.1%), followed by massive bone grafts excluding oste oarticular grafts (40.3%), Osteoarticular grafts and whole bone grafts accounted for only 0.3% and 2.3% of the totals, respectively, Althoug h the number of patients requiring bone grafts increased yearly, bone allografts mere nor widely used in Japan.