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Clinical results improved with excision of elbow HO regardless of etiology
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In a systematic literature review of 24 studies, researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania found better function in patients after surgical excision of heterotopic bone around the elbow.
"Surgical treatment of elbow [heterotopic ossification] HO leads to improved functional outcome, whether the etiology of bone formation was direct elbow trauma, brain injury or thermal injury," the researchers wrote in their study abstract.
The investigators analyzed the results of level 3 and 4 studies for a total of 384 patients who were treated with surgical excision of elbow HO following burns, direct trauma or brain injury. The patients had an average age of 36.9 years and most were men.
Regardless of HO etiology, patients’ average elbow flexion and extension and functional range of motion significantly improved from preoperative values after excision. The investigators also found no link between outcome and Garland classification for patients who had brain injuries or total body surface area for burn patients.
"Overall complication rate was 22.6%, and included HO recurrence (11.9%), ulnar nerve injury, infection and delayed wound healing," the researchers wrote.
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