Bone spurs: Mechanism of production of different shapes based on observations in Dupuytren's diathesis

Author: Thurston, Alan J.

Source: ANZ Journal of Surgery, Volume 72, Number 4, April 2002 , pp. 290-293(4)

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Abstract:

Bone spur formation on the shaft of the middle phalanx of the little finger was an incidental finding during surgical treatment of five cases of Dupuytren's contracture. The presence of such spurs in Dupuytren's contracture is not adequately explained in the literature. In areas of high tensile stress, such as the attachments of fascia and fibrous cords, bone remodels to reduce stress concentration and to make the stress transfer from one tissue to the other as smooth as possible. It cannot be regarded as the same process that is seen in heterotopic calcification in other sites in the body, and should be regarded instead as a physiological bone response to tensile stresses rather than a change intimately coupled with Dupuytren's disease.

Keywords: bone traction spur; Dupuytren; heterotopic ossification

Document Type: Review article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1445-2197.2002.02373.x

Publication date: 2002-04-01