Growing pains in children are not associated with changes in vascular perfusion patterns in painful regions

The most common cause of recurring childhood musculoskeletal pain is termed "growing pains" (GP). The etiology and pathogenesis are unknown. There is an increased prevalence of migraine headaches in families with children with GP. This fact, and the sudden onset and severity of GP episodes, has led to speculation that GP may have a vascular component. Therefore, we investigated whether GP are associated with vascular perfusion changes, measured by technetium-99 methylene diphosphate (MDP) bone scintigraphy. Eleven patients with GP who underwent technetium-99 MDP bone scans were compared to 12 children who underwent bone scans for other indications. The uptake in the blood pool phase, static images, and blood pool phase/static image ratio were measured in the right mid-tibia region (painful among patients with GP) and right mid-femur (non-painful). Student's t-test was used to compare these measurements at painful and painless regions among GP children, and to compare children with or without GP. There were no significant differences between children with GP and without GP in the blood pool, static images, and blood pool/static images in all localities. There were also no significant differences among patients with GP between painful regions and non-painful regions. We conclude that GP are not associated with vascular perfusion changes in painful regions as opposed to migraine headaches.