Early, wide excision of heterotopic ossification in the medial elbow

To prevent the occurrence of secondary contracture during maturation of het erotopic ossification of the elbow, early, wide excision of heterotopic oss ification was performed on 9 consecutive patients with a stiff elbow caused by the mass. The average duration between initial injury and operation was 7.7 months. The thick, elastic mass on the posterior oblique ligament of t he medial collateral ligament, which included mature and immature heterotop ic ossification, was resected widely with the posterior oblique ligament, t he posteromedial joint capsule, and the surrounding scar tissue. After an a verage follow-up of 52.0 months, the total are of motion improved from a pr eoperative mean of 37.3 degrees to a postoperative mean of 112.8 degrees. N o patient complained of instability or pain on movement. Despite recurrence of spotty heterotopic ossification at the medial elbow in 5 cases, at fina l follow-up, a sufficient range of motion was obtained in all patients.