title: Pediatric orthopedic pain of unknown origin.
abstract: Thirty-eight cases of musculoskeletal pain in a pediatric population that defied diagnosis are reviewed. The time between the onset of symptoms and the final diagnosis averaged 11.4 months, but in many cases was greater than 1 year. The most common diagnoses included reflex sympathetic dystrophy, osteoid osteoma, osteomyelitis, intraarticular hemangiomata, slipped epiphyses, and rheumatoid variants. There were several uncommon causes of pain, such as soft tissue hemangiomata, dystonia, and Addison disease. The pitfalls and causes of error are reviewed.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004421:Dystonia / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D005266:Femoral Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D005350:Fibroma / Q000150:complications; D006222:Hamartoma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D006391:Hemangioma / Q000150:complications; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint; D008297:Male; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000150:complications; D010017:Osteoma, Osteoid / Q000150:complications; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000150:complications; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D013581:Synovial Cyst / Q000150:complications