Background: Heterotopic ossification in abdominal wounds is a rare postoperative complication. This document presents one case treated in the Surgery Department of the General Hospital of Mexico, of a post surgery bone formation in the abdominal midline scar. We discuss the most relevant features of this condition. Case Report: A 43-year-old man was admitted with a twelve and a half years’ history of painful epigastric tumor. The patient had undergone an emergency exploratory laparotomy performed to penetrate a wound in the abdomen through supraumbilical midline incision. Linear tomography revealed bone formation in the scar. The bone was excised and the wound repaired. Histopathological report confirmed a lesion attached to the xiphoid process, characterized by mature bone formation. Conclusions: We recommend complete surgical resection when heterotopic ossification is causing abdominal discomfort. Neoplasms arising from abdominal wall should be considered in the differential diagnosis. Pathophysiological features in this entity may be a target for experimental osteogenic induction.

Keywords: heterotopic ossification, Heterotopic bone formation, Myositis Ossificans