Proteins That Assist Fracture Healing Causing Abnormal Bone Growth In Soft Tissues

Main Category: Bones / Orthopedics
Article Date: 01 Dec 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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A report published today in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, British Volume details four case studies where proteins used to augment bone formation in applications such as, healing of nonunion, may play a role in the development of abnormal formation of bone within extraskeletal soft tissues. Hetertopic ossification has been a known theoretical risk of recombinant bone morphogenetic proteins (rhBMPs) due to possible diffusion into adjacent soft tissues, but these cases are among the first to be reported.

HO can result in a reduced range of movement, particularly when it occurs around a joint, and three of the cases in the report required additional surgery in order to restore movement to the patient and reduce pain. While the mechanism of HO formation is elusive the authors suggest an inflammatory response as the possible trigger 'the addition on rhBMPs may have provided the osteoinductive stimulus for chondro-osteogenic differentiation leading to the development of HO in the cases'.

The use of rhBMPs has many potential benefits for patients including a decrease in post-operative pain and a reduction of costs associated with the treatment of delayed and nonunion and therefore the conclusion is that 'a sufficiently powered prospective clinical study is undertaken' in order to assess how widespread formation of HO is and to help identify specifically the mechanism with which it operates.

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Notes

- The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery - British Volume is a world leading orthopaedics journal with an Impact Factor of 1.868

- JBJS-Br publishes twelve issues a year of high-quality, peer-reviewed research, overseen by an international editorial board led by Editor James Scott

- The Journal was first published in 1948 by The British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery, a registered charity (No. 209299), with the object of the advancement and improvement of education in orthopaedic surgery and allied branches of surgery and the diffusion of knowledge of new and improved methods of teaching and practicing orthopaedic surgery in all its branches

- You can find out more about The Journal at http://www.jbjs.org.uk

The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery - British Volume

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