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Graft harvest

When body parts are taken for transplantation (or re-implantation into the same person) the procedure is known as tissue 'harvest'. A graft harvest is thus the procedure of taking body material for use in a graft, such as a ligament graft, a meniscus graft or a bone graft.

In the knee, ligament grafts tend to be:

• bone-patellar tendon-bone graft - B-PT-B (also called patellar tendon graft (PTG) from the patella, patellar tendon and the tibial tubercle
• hamstrings graft - from the hamstrings tendons on the medial (inner aspect) of the knee
• quads graft - from the quadriceps tendon above the knee

The graft may be taken from the patient (autograft) or from a deceased donor (allograft). Xenograft (from sacrificed animals) is seldom used. Meniscal grafts are always allografts.