Tietze syndrome | Pain in the sternum

Tietze syndrome

The Tietze Syndrome describes a pressure painful swelling that usually occurs at the rib root at the upper part of the sternum. The cause of this rare disease is unknown and healing usually occurs within a few months. In many cases, the patient or the physician is initially concerned that the chest pain is coming from the heart.

Therefore, Tietze syndrome is often only diagnosed after the exclusion of a heart-related cause. Tietze syndrome is one of the usually harmless causes of sternum pain that originate from the muscular and skeletal system. In contrast to heart disease, it is typical for these complaints that the pain can be triggered by pressure on the affected area.

In some cases there is even redness or swelling. To make the diagnosis, a medical consultation and a specific physical examination are usually sufficient. Further diagnostic measures usually do not benefit the patient.

If the doctor can reassure the patient that only a harmless Tietze syndrome and not a serious illness is responsible for the sternum pain, this often already contributes to a reduction of the pain symptoms. If necessary, additional short-term treatment with an anti-inflammatory painkiller can be administered. In the case of very pronounced pain, the one-time injection of a local anesthetic can be considered.

Associated symptoms

Chest pain can be accompanied by various symptoms, which can often provide clues to the cause of the complaints. For example, the symptom fever indicates that an inflammation is present. In this constellation, for example, pleurisy could be present.

In the case of a cold infection, the trachea may be involved in addition to increased body temperature and sternum pain, which can lead to coughing, rhinitis and fatigue. If the esophagus is inflamed by ascending gastric acid, frequent belching and coughing may occur as accompanying symptoms in addition to the pain.Shortness of breath is usually an alarming sign when combined with sternal pain, because these symptoms can together indicate acute heart or lung disease, such as a heart attack or a collapsed lung (pneumothorax). In such an emergency situation, cold sweat and fear of death can also be additional symptoms.

During a heart attack, the pain often radiates into the left arm or jaw, for example. Other unspecific accompanying symptoms can be nausea and vomiting.