Heterotopic ossification.

Heterotopic ossification occurs in 20 to 25 per cent of all traumatic spinal cord injured patients; it is sufficiently extensive in about 1/3 of the affected group to limit the range of motion of paralyzed joints. When necessary, resection of heterotopic deposits may be successfully accomplished in those patients in which the deposits consist of mature bone. A minimum of 14 months is required for maturity. The surgical procedure depends upon the anatomical location of the heterotopic bone.