Reconstruction of iliac crest defect after autogenous harvest with bone cement and screws reduces donor site pain

Abstract Background The iliac crest is the most common autogenous bone graft donor site, although associated with postoperative pain, functional disability, cosmesis, morphology and surgical satisfaction. We assessed each aspect above by comparing iliac crest reconstruction with bone cement and screws following harvest with no reconstruction. Methods We evaluated patients who underwent large iliac crest harvesting, including ten patients who underwent iliac crest defect reconstruction with bone cement and cancellous screws (R group) and ten randomly matched patients without reconstruction (NR group) were evaluated prospectively in the same period. Local pain, cosmesis and other complications were assessed postoperatively at 1 week, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months. Results Pain, cosmesis and satisfaction of patients significantly differed between the two groups. The R group exhibited less complications and lower pain visual analogue scores at postoperative 1 week (p