A graft 'harvest' is the procedure of taking body material for use in a graft, such as a ligament graft, a meniscus graft or a bone graft.
Page updated October 2023 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor)
A common graft harvest is from the semitendinosus ('semi-T') and gracilis tendons, and this is usually an autograft, ie taken from the patient during the reconstruction surgery.
Meniscus transplants and bone transplants, on the other hand, are generally harvested from cadavers and processed and stored in a tissue bank for later use on demand.
What is an autograft?
A graft is most likely to be accepted by the body if the graft material is taken from the patient's own body. This is called an 'autograft'. The material is prepared in the operating room and wrapped in moist gauze until the surgeon is ready to implant it.
What is an allograft?
An allograft is material (eg tendon) taken from a cadaver, prepared and then stored at very low temperatures until ordered by the hospital for a tendon graft. It is then defrosted and implanted into the patient.
Quick links
Forum discussions
- Post-op Diary, ACL hamstring autograft on NHS. Week 1-18
Empathetic support for a patient after a hamstrings harvest and graft.
- Quadriceps tendon graft
Patients discuss options when running out of choices for autograft.
- Patellar tendon has not filled years after recon
Unhappy patient years struggling with the harvest site year after patellar tendon graft for a cruciate reconstruction.
Peer-reviewed papers
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Quote:
"...hamstring strength deficits have been documented...but these may not actually convert into significant functional deficits at the knee." "Some tissue regenerates...the tendon does not reattach to its original site, the muscle stump retracts proximally, and atrophies to a variable extent."
Citation: Dhillon MS, Rajnish RK, Dhillon S, Kumar P. Is there significant regeneration of the hamstring tendons after harvest for ACL reconstruction? A systematic review of literature. J Clin Orthop Trauma. 2021 Feb 17;16:208-218. doi: 10.1016/j.jcot.2021.02.011. PMID: 33680834; PMCID: PMC7919951.
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Quote:
"No clinical studies to date have been able to prove consistently superior outcomes after ACLR with one autograft choice over another"
Citation: Frank RM, Higgins J, Bernardoni E, Cvetanovich G, Bush-Joseph CA, Verma NN, Bach BR Jr. Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Basics: Bone-Patellar Tendon-Bone Autograft Harvest. Arthrosc Tech. 2017 Jul 31;6(4):e1189-e1194. doi: 10.1016/j.eats.2017.04.006. PMID: 29354416; PMCID: PMC5621981.
Relevant material -
2010 - Graft Choice in ACL reconstructions - The Place of Allografts - by Dr (Mr) Ian McDermott (Knee Surgeon)
2008 - Surgical choices for the initial ACL reconstruction - by Dr Frank R Noyes (Knee Surgeon)