| Any age | Toddler and young child (1 to 5 years of age) | School age (5 to 12 years of age) | Older child and adolescent (13 to 19 years of age) |
| Acute |
- Abdominal/pelvic abscess, including pelvic inflammatory disease in adolescent females and periappendiceal abscess (referred pain)
- Blister or skin wound caused by poor-fitting footwear Contusion (soft tissue, muscle, or bone)
- Foot foreign body (eg, splinter)
- Fracture
- Osteomyelitis
- Malignancy*
- Meningitis
- Peripheral neuropathy (eg, Guillain-Barré syndrome)
- Postinfectious (reactive) arthritis
- Septic arthritis¶
- Spinal epidural abscess
- Viral myositis
| - Child abuse (eg, traumatic periosteitis or metaphyseal-epiphyseal fracture)
- DiscitisΔ
- Hand-foot-mouth disease (enterovirus infection)
- Hemarthrosis (hemophilia)
- IgA vasculitis (Henoch-Schönlein purpura)
- Immunization (IM shot)
- Salter-Harris I fracture
- Septic hip
- Toddler's fracture
- Transient synovitis
| - Ligament sprain or tear
- Salter-Harris I fracture
| - Gonococcal arthritisΔ
- Ligament sprain or tear
- Muscle strain
- Slipped capital femoral epiphysis
|
| Chronic |
- Abdominal/pelvic abscess, including pelvic inflammatory disease in adolescent females and periappendiceal abscess (referred pain)
- Benign bone tumor (eg, osteoid osteoma or osteoblastoma)
- JIA and other inflammatory disease◊
- Malignancy*
- Meningitis (meningeal irritation)
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Psoas abscess (referred pain)
- Spinal cord tumor
- Spinal epidural abscess
- Vertebral osteomyelitis
| - Cerebral palsy
- Developmental dysplasia of the hip
- Infantile Blount disease or other causes of pathologic bowing (eg, rickets, skeletal dysplasia, or asymmetric growth)
- Posterior fossa tumor (ataxia that may be misinterpreted as limp)
| - Apophysitis of the heel (Sever disease)
- Avascular necrosis of the hip (Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease)
- Closed spinal dysraphism with tethered cord
- Growing pains
- Leg length discrepancy
- Navicular osteochondrosis (Köhler disease)
- Osteochondritis dissecans
- Patellar apophysitis (Sinding-Larsen-Johansson disease)
- Tarsal coalition
- Transient synovitis
| - Apophysitis of the tibial tuberosity (Osgood Schlatter disease)
- Complex regional pain syndrome (lower leg)
- Fifth metatarsal traction apophysitis (Iselin disease)
- Herniated disc
- Metatarsal avascular necrosis (Freiberg disease)
- Osteochondritis dissecans
- Scoliosis
- Slipped capital femoral epiphysis
- Spondylolisthesis
- Spondylolysis
- Stress fracture
- Tendonitis
|
