The skeletal alterations which occur in association with thermal burns have been arbitrarily classified according to their roentgenographic appearance as: osteoporosis, periosteal new-bone formation, pericapsular calcification, osteophyte formation, heterotopic para-articular ossification, joint destruction, and ankylosis. Possible explanations for each of the skeletal changes are offered, but the true pathogenesis is still obscure. Superimposed trauma may be a precipitating factor in instances of heterotopic calcification and ossification and sepsis may be a factor in intra-articular change. Surgical excision of ectopic osseous or calcified tissue is a feasible procedure but should not be undertaken until the patient's general condition is good and all scar tissue is mature and soft.
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Evans et al. (1959) studied this question.