differential diagnosis
Last reviewed 01/2018
differential diagnosis
Joint problems in children can be caused by various conditions
- arthritis - presence of signs of inflammation such as redness, swelling, heat, pain, loss of function
- infective and reactive - Lyme disease, viral infection, mycoplasma infection
- juvenile idiopathic arthritis
- connective tissue disorders - SLE, dermatomyositis, systemic sclerosis
- systemic vasculitis - Kawasaki’s disease, polyarteritis nodosa, Henoch–Schönlein purpura (HSP)
- other - haemophilia, immunodeficiency, sarcoidosis, inflammatory bowel
disease
- mechanical and degenerative causes
- trauma - accidental and non-accidental
- hypermobility
- avascular necrosis including Perthes’ disease, Osgood-Schlatter’s
disease, Scheuermann’s disease
- slipped upper femoral ephiphysis
- non organic causes
- idiopathic pain syndromes - diffuse or localised
- benign nocturnal idiopathic limb pains (growing pains)
- psychogenic causes
- miscellaneous cause
- osteomyelitis
- tumours - malignant (leukemia, neuroblastoma)or benign (osteoid osteoma)
- endocrine and metabolic abnormalities - rickets, diabetes, hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism
- genetic disorders - skeletal dysplasia, collagen disorders (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome)
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