Focus on Safety

Focus on Safety: 
New Publications Highlight LifeNet Health’s Life Saving Work in Neurosurgery


LifeNet Health is pleased to announce two recent publications that examine the innovative OsteoCleanse™ autograft cleaning service for the treatment of infected or contaminated cranial bone flaps. Both case studies attest to the effectiveness of the OsetoCleanse autograft cleaning service.

OsteoCleanse™is one of several advanced technology platforms that LifeNet Health utilizes to help restore health. Thousands of decompressive craniectomies are performed each year, often as the result of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Using OsteoCleanse, the resultant autografts are placed in a custom container, shipped to LifeNet Health, disinfected, labeled, and stored until re-implantation. OsteoCleanse is the first process of its kind specifically designed for autologous tissue and is based on LifeNet Health’s patented allograft treatment technologies which have been used since 1995 to clean, disinfect, and sterilize allograft tissue to remove risk of disease transmission. 

Dr. Scott Graham from the Department of Neurosurgery at the Virginia Commonwealth University pioneered the use of OsteoCleanse™. His first case series is described in Salvage of Contaminated Cranial Bone Flap Autografts Using OsteoCleanseTM: Pilot Study Case Reports (J. Cell Tissue Bank (2010) 11:155–172). Dr. Graham and his colleagues describe three successful cases of re-implantation of disinfected cranial bone flaps and conclude: “OsteoCleanseTM was shown to be effective at salvaging otherwise non-implantable autografts based on clinical outcomes in a pilot study involving three cases: a post-surgical infection, a transport failure, and an immune compromised patient. Current salvage options for contaminated or at-risk autografts can be expanded to include OsteoCleanseTM.”

A second publication, The Bone Flap Solution by Karen Ecarius and Susan Malionek from the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, VA., was presented at the 2010 Annual AORN (Association of periOperative Registered Nurses) meeting in Denver, Colorado, in March. Regarding the cranial bone flap cleaning process, they list the following benefits: 

• Reduced perioperative infection rates 
• Flap provides exact anatomical fit to the patient’s defect and is cosmetically pleasing 
• Facilities do not need to maintain a tissue banking program 
• Cost savings associated with avoidance of extended recovery periods, post operative complications, and synthetic implants

“We are excited that OsteoCleanse™ is receiving national attention in these publications. Through the OsteoCleanse™ autograft cleaning service, LifeNet Health is continuing to advance technology and offer solutions to help restore health and save lives,” said Rony Thomas, LifeNet Health CEO and President. 

Since introducing Allowash® technology in 1995, LifeNet Health has distributed more than 2.5 million allograft bio-implants without incidence of disease transmission. Now, through the OsteoCleanse™ autograft cleaning service, LifeNet Health is pleased to apply this same technology to provide solutions in handling autograft tissues and continuing to serve their mission of saving lives and restoring health.