Autogenous Bone Graft
Pronunciation: aw-TOJ-eh-nus
Bone tissue harvested from the patient's own body and transplanted to a recipient surgical site to augment or reconstruct deficient bone.
Full Definition
An autogenous bone graft (also called an autograft) is considered the gold standard in oral and maxillofacial bone grafting because it provides osteogenic cells, osteoinductive growth factors, and an osteoconductive scaffold within a single graft material. Common donor sites include the iliac crest, calvarium, symphysis menti, and retromolar region. It is distinguished from allografts (donor bone from another human), xenografts (animal-derived bone), and alloplasts (synthetic bone substitutes). Editors must apply these distinctions precisely when reviewing materials-and-methods sections of surgical research papers, as conflation of graft types is a common author error. 'Autogenous' and 'autologous' are both acceptable adjectives for self-sourced grafts; 'autogenous' is more commonly used in oral surgery texts.
Usage
Usage note: 'Autogenous' and 'autologous' are interchangeable in this context; standardise to one form within a document. Never abbreviate to 'auto graft' (two words) — the solid form 'autograft' is correct.
In Context
- "An autogenous bone graft harvested from the iliac crest was used to reconstruct the large mandibular defect following cyst enucleation." — Operative report
- "The systematic review compared outcomes following autogenous bone grafting versus allograft in alveolar cleft repair." — Research article