Other Conditions With Symptoms Similar to Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
A number of conditions can cause painful, stiff joints in
children.
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a relatively
uncommon cause of these symptoms. Most often, joint pain can be linked to an
injury.
Other conditions that may be confused with JIA
include:
- Growing pains.
- Injury or
overuse (knee pain,
bursitis,
tendinitis).
- Other inflammatory diseases,
including
lupus,
rheumatic fever, or other types of
arthritis.
- Hypermobility syndrome ("double-jointed"), which can
cause joint pain at night and after heavy or unusual activity. The child may
show unusual ability to overextend or overstraighten the knees, fingers, hands,
or elbows.
- Lyme disease.
- Inflammation
in a joint caused by a foreign body, such as a splinter in the
joint.
- A condition in which the upper end of the thighbone slips
off the rest of the bone (slipped capital femoral epiphysis).
- A
tumor.
- Infection of a joint (bacterial or
septic arthritis).
- Infection of a bone
(osteomyelitis).
- Arthritis associated with
inflammatory bowel disease.
- Other diseases
that affect cell growth, such as
leukemia.
Credits
| By | Healthwise Staff |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Susan C. Kim, MD - Pediatrics |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | John Pope, MD - Pediatrics |
| Last Revised | June 5, 2012 |