Traumatic heterotopic ossification of the elbow in children--a case report.

Heterotopic ossification is defined as the formation of mature, lamellar bone within soft tissues other than the periosteum. We present a case of a 9-year-old girl with formation of heterotopic bone tissue in the elbow after surgical treatment of a fracture of the lateral humeral condyle. Eight months after the first operation the girl was re-operated to resect the heterotopic bone tissue. We believe that radical surgical excision of heterotopic bone, following physiotherapy around the elbow in children can improve the function of the extremity.