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)
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.
In the operating room the harvested material is wrapped in moist gauze until the surgeon is ready to implant it and then it can be used to replace a damaged cruciate ligament.
"No clinical studies to date have been able to prove consistently superior outcomes after ACLR with one autograft choice over another"
"...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."
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.
Meniscus transplants and bone transplants, for example, are generally harvested from cadavers and processed and stored in a tissue bank for later use on demand. This would be an allograft.