U.P’s first bone bank to be functional in six months

The Bone and Tissue Bank to come up at the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) will be functional in six months. Some tenders related to establishment of the bank have already been opened and bids finalised. Tenders related to some other work are also under process, sources at the medical university said.
KGMU will be the first super speciality hospital in the state to have such a bank.
At the bank, bones in various forms: chips, powder or the complete bone, tissues comprising ligaments and tendons are preserved at -80 degrees Celsius. Within 24 hrs of this preservation process, they become sterilised enough to be used on patients.
The KGMU’s orthopaedic department, which deals with heavy patient rush, itself generates a sizeable quantity of bone and tissue components. These components are obtained as part of a high number of surgeries that are performed at the department, said Dr Kumar Shantanu, CMS, Orthopaedic Super Speciality Bhavan, (building where this bank is being established).
Patients who have suffered bone damage or bone loss in accidents, or those suffering from bone damage because of tumours stand to benefit the most from the establishment of this bank.
The Bone and Tissue Bank will be raised under the Orthopaedics Department and Dr Deepak Kumar, additional professor in the department, will be leading the efforts in setting it up.
“The most common type of bone required in surgeries is the head of the femur, which is stored and reutilised in orthopaedic surgeries,” Dr Ashish Kumar, head, orthopaedics department explained. Having a bone bank under a government hospital will likely spell a subsidy for bone parts required by patients, he said.
Also, bone grafts are generally procured from the patient requiring the bone themself, he said. “However, procuring a bone graft from senior citizens who already have weak bones becomes difficult. In these situations, we can procure the bone from the bank. We can also attempt to harvest bone grafts from the amputations that are done here at KGMU.”
“So far, we have been requisitioning bones from AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) Delhi, Ramaiah Advanced Learning Centre in Chennai and the Tata Memorial Hospital Bone Bank in Mumbai. With our very own bone bank in KGMU, we will be able to meet the needs of our patients and other hospitals in the state as well.”
Additionally, professors from the Orthopaedic Department of KGMU have also begun training, and will be sent to AIIMS as well, to be trained in how to manage and maintain a bone bank.
While the tenders have been secured, the process of further approvals is still remaining, which will require a few months. “Although the permission for the bone bank has been given, it will take another four to six months, given the training, staff recruitment, procurement of logistics, etc,” said Dr Kumar.
With only five major bone banks in the country providing supplies for all hospitals, KGMU will be the sixth, which will make orthopaedic surgeries and amputations much more easily facilitated in Uttar Pradesh.