The use of red blood cell salvage, has become commonplace in surgery, and orthopaedics specifically. This recycles the patient’s own red blood cells back to the patient during the surgery which has a range of benefits. It reduces and in some cases, negates the need entirely for blood transfusions, as well as reduce the risk of infection for the patient. There is also evidence that this can reduce issues of compatibility for future pregnancies in young ladies.

Osteoarthritis is where an inflammatory and deteriorating process occurs inside a joint leading to the loss of cartilage, exposure of the underlying bone and intense pain for the patient. This loss of cartilage means that the patients present with pain, stiffness and loss of function. Patients with osteoarthritis require long term medical and surgical therapy in the form of medication, physiotherapy and eventually surgery (often seen as total joint replacement).

Osteosarcoma is a type of cancer that produces immature bone. It is the most common type of cancer that arises in bones, and it is usually found at the end of long bones, often around the knee.

Curative procedures for primary bone cancer such as osteosarcoma leave a bony defect which needs to be filled with a something. This could be an endoprosthesis, an allograft (piece of donor bone) or the patient’s own sterilised bone from another part of the body to allow continued limb function. This is known as a curative resection.