The leading cause of injuries, both fatal and non-fatal, in the elderly population is falling. In fact, one in four Americans aged 65 and over fall every year. Sometimes, when someone falls, they can hit their head and get a traumatic brain injury. Additionally, falls can result in broken bones. A combination of a brain injury and a broken bone can cause heterotopic ossification.
If your elderly parent has fallen and suffered a traumatic brain injury and a broken bone and needs short-term rehabilitation services, it's crucial to understand the phenomenon of heterotopic ossification so you can effectively advocate for them. Here's what you need to know.
Heterotopic Ossification
Heterotopic ossification is the development of bone where soft tissue normally is. The medical community believes that it happens when a traumatic brain injury accelerates the rate of healing of fractures. Heterotopic ossification can occur at the site of the broken bone as well as at any location on the body below the fracture site, usually in the joints.
Symptoms of this condition include a reduced range of motion in the affected joint. The area may be swollen, tender, warm, and firm. The joint will be painful, and your parent may be unable to move the affected joint. Heterotopic ossification generally starts to develop 2 to 4 weeks after injury, at which time it can progress unless treatment is done. However, it can take up to one year to develop.
Testing
Due to the progression after the development phase, it's crucial that you have your parent tested for heterotopic ossification starting two weeks after the injury and every two weeks following up to one year. Testing for this condition is done with bone scans, a venogram, and laboratory work. Be sure to schedule these tests every two weeks and, if necessary, arrange transportation for your parent from the short-term rehabilitation facility to the hospital or medical office(s) that performs these tests initially, then from their home after they are released from short-term rehabilitation.
Treatment
If your parent does develop heterotopic ossification, their stay in short-term rehabilitation will be immensely beneficial. There, they can receive treatment on a daily basis, which includes things like physiotherapy, chiropractic care, radiation therapy, shock wave therapy, and medication to control inflammation.
If the bone growth affects major blood vessels, your parent may need to have surgery to remove the ossification. Should this be necessary, your parent may need to be transferred to a long-term rehabilitation facility, depending on the severity of their condition.
Share10 September 2018
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