Bone graft substitutes: osteobiologics.

Future devolvement of osteobiologic materials will no doubt replace materials currently being used. As techniques to improve biointegration and manipulation of the healing environment proceed, future graft substitutes may exceed even autogenous bone in their reliability. The primary role of bone graft use in foot and ankle surgery has been to fill traumatic defects and benign tumors or to augment arthrodesis techniques. This article highlights the osteobiologics in use today, including calcium-based ceramics, hydroxyapatite, calcium phosphates and calcium composite materials, collagen composite materials, calcium sulfate, calcium cements, and allograft.