Fatigue is a common complaint among pediatric patients, especially among adolescents. In most cases the cause of the complaints is unclear. Persistent fatigue, although less common, frequently causes great concern among patients and parents, particularly in the case of severe fatigue like in the chronic fatigue syndrome (cfs) or unexplicable ongoing fatigue (uof). After a thorough medical history and physical examination there is, to exclude somatic diseases, no need for more than a very limited set of laboratory investigations. Patients and parents attributions affect the course of the complaints strongly. Principles of treatment are: recognition of the complaints, causality obviousness and empathy. The causality obviousness is a vital dilemma however. A percentage uof patients will at the end develop a chronic fatigue syndrome.
