• Nichola Foster, Lisa Martin, Edward Raby, Fiona M Wood, Mark Fear, Nathan Pavlos, and Dale W Edgar.
• Burn Injury Research Node, Institute for Health Research, School of Physiotherapy, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, Western Australia 6160, Australia; Burn Injury Research Unit, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia; Fiona Wood Foundation, 11 Robin Warren Dr, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia; Physiotherapy Department, Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group, North Metropolitan Health Service, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia. Electronic address: Nichola.foster@health.wa.gov.au.
• Injury. 2024 Apr 1; 55 (4): 111328111328.

BackgroundTraumatic heterotopic ossification (tHO) refers to the development of extra-skeletal bone in muscle and soft tissues following tissue insult secondary to surgery or trauma. This presents a persistent clinical concern associated with significant patient morbidity and expense to diagnose and treat. Traumatic HO is a substantial barrier to rehabilitation for trauma-injured patients. As such, the development of tHO after burn and other trauma is hypothesised to prolong inpatient length of stay (LOS) and thus increase health care costs.ObjectiveTo investigate the association between an inpatient tHO diagnosis and hospital LOS in trauma patients.MethodsA retrospective audit of trauma patients over a 14-year period was completed using data from four WA hospitals. Burn and neurological trauma patients diagnosed with tHO as an inpatient (tHO+) and control subjects (tHO-), matched (1:3) by age, gender, and injury severity factors, were identified using medical diagnostic codes. Data relating to patient and injury-related determinants of LOS from tHO+ and tHO- subjects were analysed to model the association of tHO on total hospital length of stay.Results188 identified patients were hospitalised due to traumatic injury; 47 patients with tHO following burn injury (n = 17), spinal cord injury (n = 13) and traumatic brain injury (n = 17), and 141 control patients. Those who developed tHO during hospitalisation had a significantly higher median LOS than matched trauma patients who did not develop tHO (142 days vs. 61 days). Multivariate regression analyses identified the following independent predictive factors of a prolonged hospital LOS: tHO diagnosis, mechanical ventilation hours, injury to the hip region and thigh area, other ossification disorder, pressure injury, admission to intensive care unit and deep vein thrombosis. Trauma patients diagnosed with tHO during their hospital admission stayed 1.6 times longer than trauma patients matched for injury severity without a tHO diagnosis (IRR 1.56, 95% CI 1.35-1.79, p<0.001).ConclusionTraumatic heterotopic ossification is an independent explanatory factor for increased hospital LOS in patients following burns, spinal cord, and traumatic brain injury. Early diagnosis may assist in reducing the impact of tHO on acute hospital stay after trauma.Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

14 keywords...

hide…