Bone Graft Side Effects and Warnings

Possible Complications

Complications are rare, but no procedure is completely free of risk. If you are planning to have a bone graft, your doctor will review a list of possible complications, which may include:

• Bleeding

• Infection

• Blood clots

• Nerve damage

• Rejection of a graft from another person

• Fat particles dislodge from the bone marrow and travel to the lung (this is rare)

• Anesthesia reaction

Factors that may increase the risk of complications include:

• Long-term medical conditions
• Advanced age
• Smoking

Call Your Doctor

After you leave the hospital, contact your doctor if any of the following occurs:

• Signs of infection, including fever and chills
• Redness, swelling, increasing pain, excessive bleeding, or any discharge from the incision site
• Nausea and/or vomiting that you cannot control with the medicines you were given after surgery, or which persist for more than two days after discharge from the hospital
• Pain that you cannot control with the medicines you have been given
• Pain, burning, urgency or frequency of urination, or persistent bleeding in the urine
• Cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain
• Numbness or tingling at affected site

In case of an emergency, CALL 911.