Child’s knee giving way

[Starlight40]

Has anyone got any experience of their child having knee pain and their knee clicking when they walk? Pain was at side of knee cap. This has been going on with my 12 year old since March. Her is knee is now giving way but it doesn’t hurt. She has had an emergency x ray 2 months ago and only just got the results. Knee looks normal but doctors have put her on a 2 week pathway to be seen as it has been going on for so long. No swelling, not hot, not waking her up in the night, lumps or bumps. No pain medication needed. Though has needed it in the past occasionally.

I'd ask for a CT or MRI, an X-ray won't show any issues with ligaments and soft tissue etc.

With this urgent referral, they can do a mri and ultrasound. It been referred as a possible sarcoma but the doctor said the wording of the referral letter is scary but it is the quickest way for her to be seen and she did state the x ray was normal.

My knee gives way amd has clicked for as long as i remember. I had an arthroscapy when i was 20 and whilst they were there done a lateral realease to move a muscle.

When I first went as a teen they said I was growing quicker than my body could keep up with, not sure how true that was in the 90s, also used to get lots of fluid around the kneecap.

Is she sporty?

She is sporty. She did do gymnastics and tennis. She has also grown 4 inches in a year.

Probably meniscus or ligament damage. Seems like the consultants are doing what they always do and abusing the 2ww pathway to push things through. What was the mechanism of the injury?

She thinks she hurt it playing football, I asked her and she said she didn’t do anything but then weeks later said to the doctor that it was during football.

She would benefit from physio and possibly pilates. My knee caps would partially dislocate to my mid 20s; physio and pilates sorted out the muscles to help hold the knee caps in place.

I remember having this particularly in my left knee at the same age - it was really horrible. Doctors at the time put it down to growing pains, told me to wear a knee support (which I hated) and it did resolve in time. I’m sure physio or something would have helped though.

Getting a scan is the right thing to do. I have no idea why they keep x-raying kids with knee issues. DD tore her ACL and meniscus at 13 and we didn’t even know about the ACL for several months as they kept x-raying rather than scanning. It was only when her knee completely collapsed and she trapped her meniscus that we managed to get a scan because she was in so much pain.

Two surgeries and a year of physio and she got back playing football.