Hip pain or tenderness in children

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Hip pain or tenderness in children

Knowing the type of hip pain your child has may help your health professional evaluate the cause of the pain.

• Pain when resting does not increase with motion or standing. This type of pain is usually caused by a less severe problem, unless the pain does not go away or awakens your child from sleep. In rare cases, this type of pain can be caused by bone cancer.
• Pain with movement increases when your child moves the hip or a leg, but does not increase when your child stands or bears weight. This type of pain is most often caused by a muscle injury or bursitis. Severe pain with small movements may be caused by an infection.
• Pain with weight-bearing increases when your child stands or walks and may cause your child to limp. This type of pain usually means your child has a problem with the hip joint itself. If the pain is severe enough to prevent any weight-bearing, it is more likely to mean a serious bone or joint problem.

Your child may have pelvic, groin, thigh, or knee pain along with a sore, painful, or tender hip (referred pain). Conditions that can cause hip pain in children include:

• An injury, such as from a fall, blow, or twisting movement.
• An inflammatory reaction, such as transient or toxic synovitis, following a cold or other upper respiratory infection. This is the most common cause of hip pain in children.
• A slipped capital femoral epiphysis, which occurs when the upper end of the thighbone (head of the femur) slips at the growth plate (epiphysis) and does not fit in the hip socket correctly.
• Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, which is caused by decreased blood flow to the head of the femur.
• Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), which causes inflamed, swollen joints that are often stiff and painful.
• Infection in the joint (septic arthritis), the bursa (septic bursitis), or the hip or pelvic bone (osteomyelitis).

Credits

Last updated:	September 15, 2008
Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS
Reviewed By:	Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics, H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer