Decreased pain threshold in children with growing pains.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether children with recurrent musculoskeletal pain termed growing pains (GP) have lower pain thresholds than children without GP.


METHODS
We measured the pain threshold of 44 children with GP and 46 controls. Pain thresholds were measured by use of a Fisher type dolorimeter with pressure applied to areas associated with increased tenderness in fibromyalgia (FM), control points, and anterior tibia, the usual region of pain in children with GP. Unpaired Student's t test and chi-square tests were used to compare the pain threshold and number of tender points in patients and controls.


RESULTS
The pain threshold in characteristic tender points of FM, control points, and anterior tibia in the children with GP was significantly lower in children with GP (3.5 +/- 0.6 kg/cm2 in GP versus 4.0 +/- 0.7 in controls, p < 0.001, 3.8 +/- 0.7 versus 4.4 +/- 0.8, p = 0.005; 5.1 +/- 1.1 versus 5.9 +/- 1.5, p = 0.004). Children with GP had a significantly greater number of tender points in response to an applied pressure of 4 kg/cm2.


CONCLUSIONS
Children with GP have more tender points and lower pain thresholds than children without GP indicating that GP may represent a variant of a noninflammatory pain syndrome in younger children.
Department of Rheumatic Diseases, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Philip J
PJ
Hashkes
Orit
O
Friedland
Lutfi
L
Jaber
Herman A
HA
Cohen
Baruch
B
Wolach
Yosef
Y
Uziel
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009141:Musculoskeletal System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D012008:Recurrence