Nonvascularized autogenous bone grafts for craniofacial skeletal augmentation and replacement.

Autogenous nonvascularized bone grafts play an important role in the reconstruction of complex craniomaxillofacial defects. Experimental animal data have demonstrated that grafts from membranous bone donor sites tend to undergo less resorption than grafts from endochondral donor sites, probably because of the different bony architecture of each of these types of grafts. Of all the potential donor sites, the harvest of bone graft from the calvarium is associated with the least overall morbidity. Surgeons should be aware of the biologic basis for the successful application of free autogenous bone grafts.