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Juho-AnttiAhola

Hip Pain in Children

Essentials

  • The most common causes of non-traumatic hip or inguinal pain in growing children are transient synovitis of the hip, Perthes disease, slipped upper femoral epiphysis and overuse injuries of pelvic ossification centres.
  • Rare, but serious aetiologies of hip pain requiring emergency treatment are leukaemia, tumours and septic arthritis/osteomyelitis.

Transient synovitis of the hip

Symptoms and findings

  • The most common cause of a sudden limp and refusal to walk in children between 3 and 10 years of age.
  • This is an aseptic inflammation of the joint capsule of the hip.
  • The child refuses to bear weight on the limb, complains of pain in the hip, thigh or knee, and holds the thigh in a flexed position and externally rotated with the knee bent. Hip rotation and extension are limited.
  • ESR may be slightly elevated.
  • An ultrasound examination of the hip will reveal possible effusion in the hip joint.
  • X-ray findings will be normal. X-rays are not necessarily indicated in early disease but should always be taken if symptoms persist for more than 2 weeks and when the patient is older than 10 years.

Differential diagnosis

  • Another diagnosis is likely and further investigations are warranted if
    • the symptoms have persisted for longer than two weeks
    • the patient is under 2 or over 10 years of age
    • the patient has fever or general symptoms
    • CRP is higher than 20 mg/l or ESR higher than 35 mm/h.
  • Differential diagnoses include, in particular, Perthes disease, slipped upper femoral epiphysis, septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, osteoid osteoma and neoplasms.
  • Children with general symptoms and/or fever should be examined as emergency cases in specialized care.

Treatment

  • The treatment of transient synovitis is symptomatic.
    • Rest; the child should be allowed to keep the hip in the most comfortable position.
    • Pain should be treated with NSAIDs.
  • The symptoms will subside in 2 weeks.
    • If symptoms persist for a longer time, further examinations should be done in specialized care.

Perthes disease

  • Circulatory disturbance of unknown aetiology involving the femoral head and causing bone fragility and hip pain.
  • Patients are typically boys between 5 and 9 years of age (the disease is 4 times more common in boys than in girls).

Symptoms and findings

  • Symptoms usually develop gradually and fluctuate.
  • Limping gait
  • Pain in the groin, thigh or knee
  • ESR, CRP and blood leukocyte count are normal.
  • Diagnosis is based on X-raying: irregularity and consolidation of the subchondral bone structure is noted initially, followed by a decrease in the size of the femoral head in comparison with the unaffected side.

Treatment, follow-up and prognosis

  • Perthes disease should be treated and followed up in specialized care, in a paediatric orthopaedic unit. Urgent (not emergency) referral is indicated.
  • The circulatory disturbance makes the femoral head more fragile. To prevent this, the load acting on the bone should be reduced.
  • Lighter exercise (such as swimming, cycling) should be used to maintain the range of hip motion and muscle strength.
  • The need for surgical treatment is assessed case by case.
  • The prognosis depends on the child's age at diagnosis and the extent of the circulatory disturbance.
  • The prognosis for functional recovery is usually good in children below 6 years of age.

Slipped upper femoral epiphysis (SUFE)

Definition

  • The femoral head, or epiphysis, slides into a displaced position in relation to the femoral neck.
  • Onset may be acute or gradual.

Symptoms and diagnosis

  • The typical patient is an overweight child of 11 to 16 years of age with delayed puberty.
  • The disease is about twice as common in boys as in girls.
  • The patient has a limp and holds the limb in external rotation.
  • The clinical picture may be acute, with the pain starting suddenly, and the patient may not be able to place any weight on the limb.
  • The patient may describe the pain as being located in the groin, thigh or knee.
  • The diagnosis is based on X-raying. The shift can best be seen in the Lauenstein projection that should always be taken.

Treatment

  • The situation is equivalent to femoral neck fracture: the patient should be referred as an emergency case to a paediatric orthopaedic unit.
  • Operative treatment is required, primarily closed reduction and screw fixation.
  • Patients run an about 10-20% risk of subsequent contralateral SUFE. Therefore, prophylactic fixation of the contralateral asymptomatic hip should be considered.
  • If the diagnosis is delayed, the femoral head may become ossified in a malposition, and open surgery will be needed to fix this. Such procedures involve a significant risk of circulatory disturbance in the femoral head and should be concentrated to specialized paediatric orthopaedic units (e.g. at university hospitals).

Overuse injuries of pelvic ossification centres, or apophysitis

  • These conditions typically occur during the pubertal growth spurt, sometimes earlier.
  • They occur at the attachment sites of large muscle tendons, which are cartilaginous structures in children.
    • Ischial tuberosity (hamstring muscles)
    • Lower anterior pelvic tuberosity (rectus femoris muscle)
  • Analogous with Sever's disease in the heel and Osgood-Schlatter disease in the knee.
  • The symptom will be alleviated by pausing activities aggravating the pain.
  • The diagnosis is based on clinical findings (typical clinical picture, tenderness on palpation of typical site).
  • X-raying and laboratory tests can be done as necessary to exclude other causes of pain.
  • Symptoms will typically continue for a few weeks, but there is variation in both directions.
  • The condition will be finally alleviated with the ossification of the ossification centres.

    References

    • Millis MB. SCFE: clinical aspects, diagnosis, and classification. J Child Orthop 2017;11(2):93-98 [PubMed]
    • Nouri A, Walmsley D, Pruszczynski B, et al. Transient synovitis of the hip: a comprehensive review. J Pediatr Orthop B 2014;23(1):32-6 [PubMed]
    • Cook PC. Transient synovitis, septic hip, and Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease: an approach to the correct diagnosis. Pediatr Clin North Am 2014;61(6):1109-18 [PubMed]

Related Keywords

ATC Code:

M01AB01

M01AB02

M01AB05

M01AB08

M01AB15

M01AB51

M01AB55

M01AC01

M01AC02

M01AC06

M01AE01

M01AE02

M01AE03

M01AE11

M01AE17

M01AE51

M01AE52

M01AG01

M01AG02

M01AX01

M01AX17

N02AJ08

N02BA01

N02BA51

N02BA57

N02BE01

Primary/Secondary Keywords