Difference Between Allograft and Autograft

The key difference between allograft and autograft is that allograft is a bone graft taken from a donor (another person) while autograft is a bone graft taken from the patient himself.

Allograft and autograft are two common types of human bone grafts used for graft delivery procedures in order to heal bone injuries. Depending on the injury, surgeons choose a suitable graft for the surgery. Autograft is from the patient’s body itself while allograft is from a donor. The success rate of autograft surgery is higher than allograft surgery. Moreover, the risk of infection is also high in allograft surgeries than autografts.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Allograft 
3. What is Autograft
4. Similarities Between Allograft and Autograft
5. Side by Side Comparison – Allograft vs Autograft in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is an Allograft?

An allograft is a graft tissue taken from a donor for the surgery. Therefore, the tissue is not from the patient himself. There are allograft tissue banks from which the allografts can be purchased. Hence, allograft tissue availability is high for more people. Allografts can be taken from cadavers as well.

Allograft surgeries are less painful, and recovery time is less compared to autograft surgeries. It requires one less procedure than autografts. However, allografts are more expensive than autografts. Moreover, the risk of graft failure and the risk of infection are also high in allograft surgeries.

What is an Autograft?

Autograft is a tissue taken from the patient himself for the surgery. Therefore, the graft is not from a donor. When selecting an autograft, it is chosen based on which is the most likely to provide stability for the patient.

Autograft surgeries are more reliable than allograft surgeries. Hence, they show a higher rate of success. Since the tissues are from your own body cells, it speeds up the healing process as well. Also, the risk of tissue failure and the infection are low in autografts.

What are the Similarities Between Allograft and Autograft?

• Allograft and autograft are two types of human grafts.
• Both allograft and autograft are often successful options for a graft delivery procedure.
• The selection of an autograft or an allograft is based on the type of injury.
• Both types are able to heal an injury.

What is the Difference Between Allograft and Autograft?

The key difference between allograft and autograft is that allograft is the tissue from the donor while autograft is the tissue from the patient’s own body. Autograft surgery is more reliable since it has a higher rate of success than allografts. The risk of graft failure is high in allografts than autografts.

Moreover, allograft surgeries are more expensive than autograft surgeries. Also, the risk of infection is also high in allograft surgeries than autografts. So, this is another difference between allograft and autograft.

The following infographic compares both side by side to make it easy to understand the difference between allograft and autograft.

Summary – Allograft vs Autograft

Autograft and allograft are two types of human grafts delivered through a bone graft delivery system. They are mainly used for healing a fractured or broken bone. An allograft is a graft taken from another person. In contrast, an autograft is a graft taken from the patient’s own body. Since the graft is from the patient himself, the rate of success is higher than allograft surgery. Moreover, the risk of tissue failure is low in autografts than allografts. Thus, this summarizes the difference between allograft and autograft.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Scapula-to-scapula scapulopexy with Achilles tendon allograft for FSHD management” By Lukelahood – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia

2. “ACL reconstruction hamstring autograft 02” By Shannon Moore (CC BY-SA 2.5) via Commons Wikimedia