Bilateral Irritable Hip: A Rare Presentation of Leukemia in Children

Abstract

Introduction: Bone pain is common in children. The cause may be as benign as growing pains or as life threatening as a malignancy. When a cause cannot be established by patient history and physical examination, imaging of the affected body part is often carried out. However, it is not always easy to discriminate between benign and malignant lesions of the bones in children using imaging methods. Case Presentation: We report the case of a 4.5-year-old boy with acute onset bilateral hip and low back pain and inability to walk. Examination of passive movements showed that both hips were painful and restricted. Conclusions: Bone pain presenting as localized bilateral irritable hip could be considered as a diagnostic clue related to malignancies.