A review on musculoskeletal screening in girls and boys aged between 5 and 12 years

Devyani Purushe, Prasad Dhage, Divyani Padole, Pratik Phansopkar, Neha Chitale*, Om C. Wadhokar

Ravi Nair Physiotherapy College, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.

ABSTRACT

Musculoskeletal complaints are very common in pediatrics. It is important to treat musculoskeletal disorders as soon as possible. Paediatric Gait, Arms, Legs, Spine (pGALS) is a rapid, quick musculoskeletal evaluation method evaluated in school-aged children to recognize joints that are abnormal. Musculoskeletal disorders may be associated with many diseases that interfere with everyday activities, from flat legs, genus valgum to extreme conditions as such infectious or juvenile idiopathic arthritis. It is easy to understand and quick to conduct the pGALS screening test. Initially, pGALS was created as a simple technique for non-specialists and adapted for adult patients from the early Gait, Arms, Legs, and Spine (GALS) test. Three questions about pain and function are included in pGALS, accompanied with a chain of basic manoeuvres to test all crucial joints to distinguish normal from abnormal. An effective strategy to improve understanding about the diseases of joint, enhance early identification of joint issues and also helps in promoting referral to the specialists team in order to improve clinical result is the learning of pGALS along with basic information. In spite of the time taken and pain caused, pGALS is useful to patients and parents. With a sensitivity and specificity of more than 97 percent, pGALS has been shown to be an easy-to-use top-to-toe musculoskeletal diagnostic tool for children. For both kids and their parents, it is appropriate and can be carried out easily, even by new examiners. Proper understanding of screening techniques for musculoskeletal disorders would allow for rapid diagnosis and early referral and care where appropriate.

Keywords:

pGALS, musculoskeletal screening, musculoskeletal disorder, clinical skills, Musculoskeletal pain, Normal development, Paediatrics