Osteochondral allografts are a treatment option offered by the Avascular Necrosis program at The Denver Clinic for Extremities at Risk.  This procedure is a potential treatment if the area of osteonecrosis is small, the patient has good bony alignment, the defect is only on one side of the joint and the patient doesn't have a metabolic bone disease.

Osteochondral allografts are from deceased donors and may be fresh frozen or cryopreserved. Each type have their advantages and disadvantages but both have been shown to be safe with minimal incidence of imunologic reaction in a person receiving a cadaver graft.

The technique for using a graft for treatment of avascular necrosis is to expose the area of the joint that is affected, resect the affected area, model the graft to fit the resected area, and fixing the graft into place. 

Osteochondral allografts are most commonly used for talar (ankle), humeral (shoulder) and knee avascular necrosis. 

Talar (ankle) graft	Humeral head (shoulder)	Femoral condyle (knee)