Harvesting of autogenous bone, most commonly from the iliac crest, for use as the interbody graft in spinal fusion procedures has been standard practice, but is associated with a high rate of morbidity, including graft site pain, infection, fracture, bleeding and damage to the femoral nerve. Use of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein (rhBMP-2; Infuse Bone Graft – Medtronic) was first approved by the FDA in 2002 for single-level anterior lumbar spinal fusion in adults with degenerative disc disease who had not responded to at least 6 months of nonoperative treatment. Now it has also been approved for treatment of open tibial fractures and for use in oral and maxillofacial bone grafting procedures.

MECHANISM OF ACTION — Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein is an osteoinductive growth factor produced in a Chinese hamster ovary cell line. For use in spinal fusion surgery, it is applied as a solution ... more      

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