MSK + Joint

Question 1

What is juvenile idioatphic arthritis?

Answer 1

• used to describe joint inflammation presenting before 16-years old
• persists for at least 6 weeks
• in absence of infection or other defined cause
• affects 1 in 1000 children in the UK

Question 2

What are the 7 different types of juvenile idiopathic arthritis?

Answer 2

Question 3

What are investigations for juvenile idiopathic arthritis?

Answer 3

• Clinical diagnosis
• FBC → anaemia, leucocytosis, thrombocytosis in systemic JIA
• ESR → elevated generally
• Autoantibodies → ANA, RF, HLA-B27 may be +ve; ANA positivity predicts risk of uveitis
• Plain radiographs → usually normal in early JIA but helpful to exclude osteomyelitis, trauma or tumours

Question 4

What is the management for JIA?

Answer 4

• Treatment aimed at improving quality of life + preserving joint function
• Physio → maintain joint mobility
• NSAIDs → effective analgesics + can be combined w/ intra-articular corticosteroid injections
• Oral corticosteroids + DMARDs → used in severe/resistant disease