Paediatric Orthopaedics - The Limping Child Flashcards
What is a limp?
- abnormal gait commonly due to pain, weakness or deformity
- shorter stance phase on affected limb
What does the clinical presentation of a limp correlate to?
Pain
- antalgic gait
Weakness
- trendelenberg gait
Short limb
- toe walk
Stiff joint
- adducted and loss of rotation
Spasticity
Poor balance
What does the aetiology of a limp change with?
Age group
Why is it important to differentiate the cause of a limp when infection and inflammation are involved?
In infection and inflammation important to differentiate the cause as some are more damaging:
- Septic arthritis
- Most urgent
- Osteomyelitis
- Transient synovitis
What are the clinical features of a limp due to infection and inflammation?
- pain
- systemic features: malaise, loss of appetite, temperature
- recent URTI/ear infection
- trauma
- pseudoparalysis
What is seen in the examination for a limp when infection and inflammation is involved?
- Look sick
- Limp
- Able to weight bear
- Localising area
- Ankle/tibia/knee/thigh/hip
- What movements hurt
What investigations are done for a limp when infection and inflammation is involved?
- Bloods
- WCC, CPR, ESR, CK, cultures
- X-ray
- Document state of bone other than see infection as takes 3 weeks to see
- USS
- Confirm effusion of joint which might not be obvious clinically
What is used to differentiate between septic arthritis and osteomyelitis?
Kocher criteria
What does Kocher criteria look at?
Pyrexia
Weight bearing
WBC count
ESR
What does ESR stand for?
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate
What does an ESR blood test monitor?
Infection and inflammation rate
What bacteria usually causes septic arthritis in children?
Staph. Aureus
What is the presentation of septic arthritis in children?
- Limping
- Pseudoparalysis
- Swollen, red joint
- Refusal to move joint
- Pain
- Pyrexia
Is septic arthritis more common in lower or upper limbs?
- More common in lower limb than upper
- Knee most common then hip