Metabolic Bone Disease

Our world-class Metabolic Bone Disease Service sees children from all over the UK with a wide range of conditions including:

• recurrent fractures
• osteoporosis (primary or secondary)
• osteogenesis imperfecta
• osteopetrosis
• rickets
• hypophosphatasia
• disorders affecting calcium and phosphate homeostasis
• fibrous dysplasia/McCune Albright syndrome

Treatments include appropriate occupational and physiotherapy, orthotics and referral to specialist surgical services (typically orthopaedic, neurosurgical and dental).

Children with rickets receive different forms of therapy depending on the type of rickets they have.

Clinics

There are two metabolic bone disease outpatient clinics per week. One is dedicated to seeing patients receiving oral bisphosphonate therapy in prospective randomised studies, the other takes new referrals and follows up patients with bone disease.

Team values

Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has five core values that underpin everything we do: Committed to Excellence, Teamwork, Accountability, Compassion and Integrity.

Here in the Metabolic Bone team we have developed our own mission statement based on the Trust values:

• research is embedded in the day-to-day activities of our team; we will always strive to provide up-to-date and high quality care for all the children and young people under our care
• we accept responsibility both for our individual practice and the quality of our service as a team
• we work as an integrated multi-disciplinary team, respecting and recognising the contribution and skills of all team members equally
• we promote inclusion of children in their local community and schools supporting them to become the best that they can be in all that they do
• we see ourselves as part of a wider community of professionals, families and charities, committed to working together to improve the care of children and young people with a wide range of diseases of the skeleton

Useful websites

Brittle Bone Society – the Brittle Bone Society is a national charity that supports individuals and families affected by Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI).

Care4BrittleBones – aims to improve the quality of life for people with Brittle Bone Disease by enabling more medical research.

Climb – the leading patient organisation for Inherited Metabolic Disorders, supporting thousands of families worldwide.

Restricted Growth Association – a registered charity that provides information and support to people of restricted growth and their families. Their purpose is to ensure that all people who are affected by dwarfism are equal in society.