I came across this post, years after it was originally on the forum, and it helped me get my son correctly diagnosed, after 4 weeks of not walking, and incorrect diagnosis(s). So, I thought I would post on here in case there is another desperate mom out there looking for answers and direction.
My son was 17 months old and had been walking and running for 4 months, when all of a sudden one Saturday morning he refused to walk. That Sunday we took him to the ER where they did xrays of his legs and hips to check for a fracture and diagnosed him with toxic synovitis. We were told it could take two weeks before he would be back to normal. Two weeks later he was rarely walking and when he did he looked terribly stiff and walked like an old man that had thrown his back out. We saw his pediatrician, she ordered blood work and more xrays of his hips and legs. Nothing came back unusual. She ordered an ultrasound of his hip to check for fluid, no fluid on the hip. She recommended we wait another week (meaning he would have not been walking for a full 4 weeks). We declined and requested a referral to an orthopedic pediatrician. Then I come across this post and voila, this post in conjunction with some of the “scholarly articles’ I found on google made it seem like a no brainer- my son had Discitis.
The orthopedic ped. Originally was just planning on taking more xrays of the hips and legs and recommending physical therapy, and my husband and I asked him to please xray his spine also, because that had not been looked at- THANK GOODNESS HE LISTENED. The xray came back showing something was not right, we had an urgent MRI, and sure enough, it was discitis. Unfortunately for my son though, the infection had already traveled to his vertebrae, so now it is discitis and osteomyelitis. We were immediately admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics.
My son has NEVER had an infection prior to this. We have no idea what type of bacteria is causing the infection and we are having to play a guessing game in order to treat it.
So things I would recommend you look out for- He would crawl constantly, but we did have to have him on motrin for pain. He did start to lose his appetite and got constipated starting around week 2 of not walking, pre-diagnosis. I put all of this in here so you have an idea what to look for. Discitis DOES NOT SHOW UP IN BLOOD TESTS. His white blood cell count, CRP and SED were all normal when his pedestrian checked at the 2-week mark. Discitis usually does not show up on xrays, I believe since it spread to the bone, that is why it showed up. But WE SHOULD HAVE asked for the back xray sooner, what if it had shown up and that would have helped us get him diagnosed weeks sooner!!!
I hope this can help someone get their child properly diagnosed in a timely manner. Had my husband not been insistent that it was in my sons back we probably would still be twiddling our thumbs looking for an answer. Trust your instincts and advocate for your child. Even if that means pushing for them to have an MRI under anesthesia, that is way better than letting the infection spread.