Current Status of the Bone Bank in Korea and a Proposal for Quality Improvement of the Bank

Kang, Yong Koo

Abstract

Since surgical bone banks were set up at several university hospitals in early 1970s, the number of allograft is getting increased in Korean society. Most orthopedic surgeons have used allografts supplied by their own surgical bone banks for tumor reconstruction, arthroplasty, and ligament reconstruction. In 2000, a nation-wide survey for surgical bone banks was performed by Korean orthopedic Association. The questionnaires were prepared by the Committee on Tissue Bank in the Association, and sent to 110 university and training hospitals. Fifty-six surgical bone banks were encountered. However, facilities of the banks were not updated. Most of them were using one or two deep freezers only. Most of them do not have a full-time technician. While most bone banks were using surgically excised femoral heads and amputated limbs, some banks retrieved the tissues from cadaver or organ donors. Since the law for organ transplantation from brain death was established in February 2000, the number of allograft transplantation is growing tremendously. In order to secure the safety of allograft transplantation, the enactment of "the Law for Tissue Transplantation" is mandatory. Unlike organs, the tissues can be procured and stored in advance and can be used whenever they are needed by establishing and operating a form of tissue bank. Therefore, since it is difficult to regulate or supervise tissue banking by "the Law on the Organs and Transplantation", the enactment of a separate law is highly recommended. The government should set the certification standards for the bone and tissue banks suitable for the domestic circumstances. The request of certification of bone and tissue banks should be obtained by the banks that are currently in operation. Also, actual inspection team should be organized involving the professionals and public officers. This team will be responsible for audit of the banks. The certified bone and tissue banks should renew by paper review or actual inspection every 2~3 years. For safe and smooth operation of the banks, the licence system for certified tissue bank specialist(CTBS) should be adopted. Requirements such as academic requirement or professional experience in bone and tissue banks for a certain period of time will be needed.