Criteria for Recommending Surgical Removal of Heterotopic Ossification
| Criterion | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Significantly limited range of motion for involved joint (e.g., hip should have <50° range of motion); for most patients, progression to joint ankylosis is most serious complication of heterotopic ossification |
| 2 | Absence of local fever, swelling, erythema, or other clinical findings of acute heterotopic ossification |
| 3 | Normal serum alkaline phosphatase |
| 4 | Return of bone scan findings to normal or near normal; if serial quantitative bone scans are obtained, there should be a sharply decreasing trend followed by steady state for 2–3 mo. |