TY - JOUR T1 - Physiological periostitis; a potential pitfall JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood JO - Arch Dis Child SP - 1124 LP - 1125 DO - 10.1136/adc.88.12.1124 VL - 88 IS - 12 AU - P de Silva AU - G Evans-Jones AU - A Wright AU - R Henderson Y1 - 2003/12/01 UR - http://adc.bmj.com/content/88/12/1124.abstract N2 - Physiological periostitis is a known radiological finding in infants aged between 1 and 6 months. Two children with physiological periostitis mistaken for non-accidental injury are described. In both these patients only one limb was imaged and failure to image the contralateral limb led to unnecessary skeletal survey and distress for the families. A 3 month old infant was admitted with a 24 hour history of reluctance to move her right leg. There was no history of trauma, fever, or malaise. A radiograph of the right leg was reported to show a periosteal reaction at the lateral aspect of the femur consistent with a fracture. The parents could not explain the suspected injury and a Child Protection investigation was done which found no pointers to abuse. A skeletal survey showed no other fracture but a similar appearance in the corresponding area of the left femur leading to a revised diagnosis of physiological periostitis1 (fig 1). The infant’s symptoms did … ER -