Current Pediatric Research

Introduction: An atypical ossification pattern of the ischiopubic synchondrosis, also known as van neck-odelberg disease, is often a misdiagnosed cause of pain in the pediatric pelvis. The main symptom is an unusual pain of one (rarely both) hip, without trauma or after an overuse of the limb, which can lead to a limitation in movement or limping. The purpose of our article is to describe the clinical and radiological findings of this rare and often misdiagnosed condition.

Materials and methods: Because of the non-specificity of the symptoms, those young patients are often over-studied with numerous unnecessary instrumental investigations: hip-ultrasound, radiographs, magnetic resonance or computer tomography scans and some other invasive procedure. The simple radiograph can identify this condition, but, especially for boys, those are often negative because of the external protection of the reproductive system. In the acute phase of this clinical condition, Non- Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) and rest from sport are the main therapy and the symptoms are resolved in about 1-2 weeks. The radiological findings will come back to the normality in some years.

Results and conclusion: A child that comes in the emergency room complaining about strong pain in the hip is always a challenging situation. Understanding this misdiagnosed condition can lead to avoid unnecessary instrumental examinations.

Author(s): Andrea Cosentino*, Gianni Odorizzi, Olaf Stefan Schmidt, Wilhelm Berger

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