Painless: a case of congenital insensitivity to pain in a 5-year-old male

Background: several genetic disorders are known to be associated with congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), a term often used to describe an impaired ability to perceive the type, intensity and quality of noxious stimuli. Children with CIP often injure themselves severely. The injury can go unnoticed or be misdiagnosed as child abuse because it is associated with multiple and recurrent injuries which may result in permanent damage. Patient findings: we report the case of a 5-year-old boy with a history of showing no signs of pain when exposed to accidental injuries such as trauma, burns or secondary chronic lesions. Conclusion: child abuse has a much higher occurrence rate than rare neuropathies such as the one we describe. However, CIP should be considered as a diagnosis in any child presenting with a history of poor or absent responses to painful stimuli.