Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Children's Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Department of Pediatrics, Taitung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taitung, Taiwan.
Sci Rep. 2022 Sep 1;12(1):14835. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-19285-3.
Growing pains (GP), a common and benign pain syndrome of unknown etiology, is characterized by bilateral recurrent leg pain in childhood. There are no standardized diagnostic criteria for GP, and the diagnosis is often made by exclusion. To identify clinical and laboratory features, we included patients < 12 years with GP at National Taiwan University Children's Hospital between April 2006 and April 2019 in a retrospective study. We also compared body weight and body height z-scores between diagnosis and up to 2 years post-diagnosis to determine if rapid growth was associated with GP. This cohort study included 268 patients with a mean age of 4.7 ± 2.2 years. The most common features of GP were bilateral leg pain, no limitation of activity, intermittent pain, normal physical examination, and being well physically. The average number of Walters' criteria fulfilled by the patients with GP was 6.7 ± 0.9. Elevated serum levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were observed in 37.5% and 15.6% of patients, respectively. Symptomatic medications were used in 33% of patients. Our study indicates that ALP and LDH may be biomarkers associated with GP. There was no significant association between GP and rapid growth within 2 years of diagnosis.
生长痛（GP）是一种常见的良性病因不明的疼痛综合征，其特征为儿童双侧反复性腿部疼痛。目前尚无 GP 的标准化诊断标准，通常通过排除法进行诊断。为了明确 GP 的临床和实验室特征，我们对 2006 年 4 月至 2019 年 4 月期间在国立台湾大学儿童医院就诊的年龄<12 岁的 GP 患者进行了回顾性研究。我们还比较了诊断时和诊断后 2 年内的体重和身高 z 评分，以确定快速生长是否与 GP 有关。本队列研究共纳入了 268 例平均年龄为 4.7±2.2 岁的患者。GP 的最常见特征为双侧腿部疼痛、活动不受限、间歇性疼痛、体格检查正常且身体状况良好。满足 GP 沃尔特斯标准的患者平均数量为 6.7±0.9。分别有 37.5%和 15.6%的患者存在碱性磷酸酶（ALP）和乳酸脱氢酶（LDH）水平升高。33%的患者使用了对症药物。我们的研究表明，ALP 和 LDH 可能是与 GP 相关的生物标志物。在诊断后 2 年内，GP 与快速生长之间无显著关联。
