Which injuries may indicate child abuse?

Which injuries may indicate child abuse?

Making the decision as to whether an injury is a result of child abuse or not is stressful for both the family involved and the clinical team. It is not a decision that is taken lightly, and with an increasing expectation by the investigating agencies, lawyers and the public in general, to ensure that it is based on explicit 'evidence', clinicians need to be up to date with the latest scientifi...

ABC of child abuse. Head injuries.

Head injuries with or without fracture ofthe skull feed. Serious intracranial injury is extremely are the commonest cause ofdeath from battering, unlikely. but abdominal injury to the gut or solid organs The force entailed in physical abuse-for can mimic the signs ofhead injury and can lead to example, in swinging the child, in violent death if they are unrecognised. uncontrolled shaking, and i...

Mandatory reporting of oral injuries indicating possible child abuse.

BACKGROUND The dental professional may see pediatric patients who have signs of intraoral trauma, perioral trauma or both. Evaluation should include the possibility of nonaccidental, deliberately inflicted abuse. Reporting such injuries is mandated. METHODS The authors reviewed the criminal and civil statutes in all 50 states to determine what role dental professionals are required to play in...

Sentinel injuries in infants evaluated for child physical abuse.

OBJECTIVE Relatively minor abusive injuries can precede severe physical abuse in infants. Our objective was to determine how often abused infants have a previous history of "sentinel" injuries, compared with infants who were not abused. METHODS Case-control, retrospective study of 401, <12-month-old infants evaluated for abuse in a hospital-based setting and found to have definite, intermedia...

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), may be mistaken for child abuse.