Life-threatening and common causes of limp in children

* For example, appendicitis with periappendiceal abscess, discitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, psoas abscess, skeletal tuberculosis, spinal epidural abscess, suppurative iliac fossa adenitis with retroperitoneal iliac fossa abscess, and vertebral body osteomyelitis.
¶ Malignancies that may cause limp include Ewing sarcoma, osteogenic sarcoma, acute lymphocytic leukemia, and metastatic neuroblastoma.
Δ Common osteochondroses affect the tarsal navicular (Köhler disease) in children younger than 10 years of age and the second, third, or fourth metatarsal (Freiberg disease or Freiberg infraction) in adolescent females.
◊ Common soft tissue injuries include deep contusions, sprains, strains, foot foreign bodies, insect bite or sting, and foot blisters.
§ Typical sites of traction apophysitis include the tibial tuberosity (Osgood-Schlatter disease), calcaneus (Sever disease), lower pole of the patella (Sinding-Larsen-Johansson disease), and the base of the fifth metatarsal (Iselin disease).
¥ For example, peripheral neuropathy, spastic paralysis (cerebral palsy), muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, and complex regional pain syndrome.
‡ For example, tarsal coalition, pathologic varus (bow legs), pathologic valgus (knock knees), limb length discrepancy, and torsional deformities (eg, tibial torsion or hip anteversion).
† Examples of inflammatory arthritis include serum sickness and serum sickness-like reactions, reactive arthritis, and immunoglobulin A vasculitis (Henoch-Schönlein purpura).
** Spinal column conditions include spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, closed spinal dysraphism with tethered cord, and disc herniation.