Growth Pain and Articular Hypermobility in Children

Overview

The author summarized the problem of growth pain in children based on his own as well as literature data and outlined the present views of diagnostics, differential diagnostics and pathogenesis of this frequent idiopathic musculoskeletal pain at the child age. The author’s own examination in a group of 216 children at the age of 3–15 years during preventive follow-up examinations revealed prevalence of growth pain in 16.7%. The prevalence of articular hypermobility at the child age was detected in 24.9%. The comparison of individual examination groups revealed that prevalence of hypermobility in the group of children with growth pain (70%) was significantly higher than prevalence of hypermobility in a common population of children (24.9%) (p <0.001). It was also demonstrated that prevalence of the growth pain in children where hypermobility was proved (26.9%) was significantly higher than prevalence of growth pain in a common population of children (16.7%) (p=0.0038). A pilot examination of markers of bone metabolism in children with growth pains did not reveal any pathological symptoms. Based on the obtained results the author demonstrated that hypermobility may be one of significant factors participating in the origin of the clinical picture of growth pains at the child age. Finally the author present a survey of possible therapeutic procedures in children suffering from growth pains.

Key words:
growth pains, articular hypermobility, musculoskeletal pain, children