Mangaluru: Surgeons in Mangaluru are increasingly opting for allografts — bone and tissue obtained from donors — to treat complex injuries and reconstruction cases, reducing the need for autografts taken from a patient’s own body.The shift gathered pace after the establishment of the Prof M Shantaram Shetty Tissue Bank at KS Hegde Charitable Hospital nearly five years ago.Dr Vikram Shetty, HOD orthopaedics and co-founder of the tissue bank, told TOI that demand for donor bone tissue has steadily risen. The bank now supplies nearly 2,000 packets of bone tissue and around 100 packs of skin annually to hospitals in the coastal region, as well as Hyderabad and parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.The requirement is especially high in paediatric cancer surgeries, where bones removed during tumour treatment require reconstruction.Orthopaedic surgeons prefer allografts as they reduce pain and recovery time. Autograft procedures involve an additional incision to harvest bone from the patient, leading to more pain and longer anaesthesia time.Donated skin is also crucial in treating severe burn victims, particularly patients with burns covering over 50% of the body.The tissue bank is working to raise awareness about donation. Unlike kidney or liver donation, bone and skin can be harvested within four hours after death. However, misconceptions about disfigurement continue to discourage families. Doctors say skin is removed from the back of the body and bones are replaced to preserve appearance.Despite receiving only around two donations annually, even a single donor can provide enough tissue stock to sustain surgeries for nearly six months, Dr Shetty said.
