Female adolescent rheumatological presentations: the importance of chronic pain syndromes.
The clinical features of 60 female adolescents (mean age 15 +/- 0.3 years) presenting consecutively to a rheumatologist are reviewed. Thirty-five per cent met criteria for well-defined chronic pain syndromes, 19 having fibrositis syndrome and two having a reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome. Other diagnoses were inflammatory arthritis (30%), anterior knee pain syndromes (13.3%), tendinitis (8.3%) and miscellaneous conditions (13.3%). The high prevalence of chronic pain syndromes in this patient group is highlighted and an approach to management is suggested.
Cicuttini
F
F
Department of Medicine, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Littlejohn
G O
GO
D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology; D012019:Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy / Q000453:epidemiology*