Management of childhood arthritis. Part 1: Acute arthritis.

Arthritis in childhood is not uncommon. Estimates of the annual incidence of arthritis vary widely, but for all forms of chronic arthritis it is probably between 5 and 10 per 100 000 children aged 16 years or younger. 2 Acute forms of arthritis are perhaps four times more common. Most paediatricians will therefore see several patients with arthritis each year. The aim of this paper and part 2 of the series is to give a concise, but moderately comprehensive, overview of this topic which will help in the management of this heterogeneous group of disorders. Although chronic arthritis can present with a sudden and painful onset of one or more swollen joints, such a presentation should raise suspicions that the arthritis is due to trauma or to a joint or contiguous bone infection.