The limping child

The limping child is a common reason for attendances to the emergency department. It is very likely that the Foundation Years doctor will have to assess and treat these patients. While the large majority of the patients have typically benign diagnoses, there are very important causes of a limp in a child that must be excluded.

These include malignancy and acute sepsis of the hip. It is important to determine the salient features on history and examination and to conduct the appropriate investigations.

This article outlines how children with a limp may present clinically and details the acute assessment that must be carried out to exclude the rare but potentially devastating causes of a limp. The details of diagnosing the more common conditions causing a limp in a child are also described.