Serious head injury in infants: accident or abuse?

Pediatrics. 1985 Feb;75(2):340-2.

Abstract

The medical records and computed tomography (CT) scans of all children less than 1 year of age admitted to the hospital with head injury over a 2-year period were reviewed. Sixty-four percent of all head injuries, excluding uncomplicated skull fracture, and 95% of serious intracranial injuries were the result of child abuse. The occurrence of intracranial injury in infants, in the absence of a history of significant accidental trauma, such as a motor vehicle accident, constitutes grounds for an official child abuse investigation.

MeSH terms

  • Accidents*
  • Accidents, Traffic
  • Brain Concussion / etiology
  • Brain Injuries / etiology
  • Cerebral Hemorrhage / etiology
  • Child Abuse*
  • Craniocerebral Trauma / etiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Skull / injuries
  • Skull Fractures / etiology