Over the last decade chronic musculosceletal pain syndrome has been more frequently recognized in the pediatric and adolescent populations of developed countries. It is mainly chracterized by pain, which is persitent or intermitted at one or several sites of the musculoskeletal system and which has no adequate morphological explanation.
Another typical aspect is the development of significant fuctional and psychosocial limitations that may evolve into disability. The diagnosis of CPS requieres a high degree of expertise of the health professionals involved in the care for children with chronic musculoskeletal disorders.
The specialists who should cooperate in this diagnosis should include experts in pediatric rheumatology, physiotherapy, clinical psychology and psychiatry. Patient are often referred for suspected chronic inflammatory disease, which has to be exclude.
Confirmation of the absence of an organic dirorder is one of the basic preconditions for therapeutic success.