Guillain-Barré syndrome

Key words: Guillain-Barré syndrome, Back and leg pain, Children, Diagnosis

The paper reports the case of a 4-year-old girl who had been suffering from progressive pain in her legs and back and impossibility of walking for 10 days. The presence of a slight hyposthenia but with absence of patellar reflexes was observed. The diagnosis was that of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). GBS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of initial clinical pictures characterised by significant back or leg pain with gait refusal. In children GBS should not be thought of at the onset only in the presence of profound hyposthenia, especially in preschool age. Paediatricians should consider GBS in the differential diagnosis in front of a child who has pain in the lower limbs and hypo-areflexia (although initially not present in all cases) to avoid delays in diagnosis and immediate therapeutic management (immunoglobulin) and physiotherapy.