PlusLife

PlusLife is a WA not-for-profit organisation licenced to retrieve, process & distribute human bone & tissue. Just like organ transplants some people need bone or tissue transplants.

<p> As a registered charity and the only bone bank in Western Australia, PlusLife provides an essential service to the health sector. Amongst the recipients are children and adolescents with spinal deformities, bone tumour patients (generally young people who have avoided amputation of a limb by recieving a transplant); and many patients with arthritic joint disease caused by dibilitating arthritis and trauma, whose mobility and general wellbeing has been improved by receiving bone grafts from PlusLife.</p> <p> <u><strong>Primary Objective</strong></u></p> <p> To enhance the life of patients by providing the highest quality grafts (transplanted tissue) for their surgical treatment and to acknowledge the generous gift of donation.</p> <p> <u><strong>How Can People Donate Bone/Tissue?</strong></u></p> <p> PlusLife operates two bone/tissue donor programs:</p> <p> <strong>Living Donation</strong> - PlusLife accepts donations from patients undergoing hip replacement surgery. These patients may donate the femoral head (ball part) of the hip joint, which is otherwise discarded as a routine part of the hip replacement surgery. PlusLife Donor Liaison staff discuss donation with hip replacement patients and obtain their consent before surgery.</p> <p> <strong>Cadaveric (deceased) Donation</strong> - with the consent of the next of kin, PlusLife may also retrieve bone and tissues (including tendons and ligaments) from deceased persons. This program provides the large structural grafts used for major limb saving and reconstruction procedures for patients with bone cancers and those requiring complex joint replacement surgeries. </p>