How long does it take for children's myositis to recover?

Myositis is a disease that children are very likely to get when they are young. This disease will cause children to feel pain in their calf muscles. Since this disease is benign, it can be quickly recovered as long as it is treated in time. Most children with benign myositis will have abnormal gait when walking. Due to the pain, the child will cry. So how long will it take for children with myositis to recover?

The clinical features of acute benign myositis in children are mainly pain in the lower limbs, especially the calf muscles, accompanied by abnormal gait. Children aged 1 to 2 years old may show symptoms such as crying, irritability, refusing to stand or walk, or falling easily.

About 1-4 days later, the prodromal symptoms improve, but pain occurs in the muscles of the lower limbs on both sides, most commonly in the calf muscles, followed by the thigh muscles. It often occurs suddenly when waking up from sleep, and the limb pain worsens during activities. Even if the patient can walk, there will be an abnormal gait, normal tendon reflexes, and no sensory abnormalities. In severe cases, walking may be difficult. There is no abnormal sensation of the skin, no redness or heat, and no abnormal nerve reflexes.

For most children, the muscle pain and tenderness in both lower limbs will disappear 3-6 days after the onset of the disease, and they will return to normal and walk freely in 1-2 weeks. Only some children may have abnormal gait for several weeks. The prognosis of this disease is good, so parents do not need to be nervous if their children have this disease. As long as they cooperate with the drug treatment, reduce muscle activity, and rest in bed, they will generally recover quickly without any sequelae.

How to treat acute benign myositis in children

1. The treatment of acute benign myositis in children mainly focuses on restricting activities, bed rest for those with severe pain, and comprehensive treatment such as antiviral and muscle nutrition.

2. Those with positive Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibodies should use macrolide drugs. Patients with obvious myalgia or significantly increased muscle enzymes can take prednisone 1 mg/(kg/d) for a short period of time. After 2-3 days, the myalgia will disappear and walking will be normal.

3. Antiviral treatment plan: mainly acyclovir or shuanghuanglian, supplemented by vitamin B1, B6, vitamin C, etc. If the patient has bacterial infection, add penicillin sodium for comprehensive treatment. Treatment includes intravenous infusion of Yanhuning injection or Xiyanping injection, energy mixture to supplement ATP and intravenous infusion of calcium (calcium gluconate injection).

4. For patients with more serious conditions, hormone treatment such as hydrocortisone or prednisone should be given. Hydrocortisone 3 mg/(kg/d)×(3-5d) intravenous drip was used, which was later changed to prednisone 1-1.5 mg/(kg/d)×(3-5d). The total course of treatment was about 7-10 days. All patients were able to walk within 3-6 days, with pain gone and normal body temperature.