European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Pain from donor site after anterior cervical fusion with bone graft: a prospective randomized study with 12 months of follow-up.
Harvesting bone graft from the iliac crest in spinal fusion surgery is a widely used technique. However, complications can occur and there are also reports of patients with persistent graft site pain after surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate pain from the donor site (DS) over time, and register associated complications and if it affected health-related quality of life (HRQoL). ⋯ Harvesting of iliac crest bone graft is associated with significant pain. However, at 3 months postoperatively, the negative effect of clinical importance seemed to have disappeared compared to when no bone graft was harvested. The pain from bone graft harvesting does not seem to affect the quality of life at 4 weeks postoperatively and onward.