Costochondritis

BASICS

DESCRIPTION

  • Anterior chest wall pain and tenderness of the costochondral and costosternal regions, most often affecting the 2nd to the 5th costal cartilages
  • System(s) affected: musculoskeletal
  • Synonym(s): costosternal syndrome; parasternal chondrodynia; anterior chest wall syndrome

EPIDEMIOLOGY

  • Predominant age: 40 to 50 years
  • Predominant gender: female sex assigned at birth

Incidence

  • Around one-third of noncardiac chest pain visits in emergency departments are of musculoskeletal origin.
  • Around 10% of chest wall pain in primary care setting diagnosed with costochondritis.

ETIOLOGY AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

Although not fully understood, inflammation can be caused by pulling from adjoining muscles at costochondral or costosternal regions.

RISK FACTORS

  • Unusual physical activity or upper extremity overuse
  • Recent trauma (including motor vehicle accident, domestic violence) or new-onset physical activity
  • Recent upper respiratory infection (URI) with coughing

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