Child abuse

Abstract

Child abuse is most often diagnosed by an emergency doctor on call who sometimes "feels" more than knows what he is confronted with. He should nevertheless always take a medical history and make a physical and radiological examination. X-ray imaging and an ophthalmologic retinal examination are the most important diagnostic steps. Typical findings are multiple and/or dorsal rib fractures, complex skull fractures, physeal fractures, all fractures within the first 12 months, multiple fractures in different localisations and stages of healing, all injuries with uncommon distributions, all patterned bruises, immersion burns, intramural hematoma and every unexplained loss of consciousness. The first step towards victim protection is always the removal of the abused child from its caregivers by admitting it to hospital, as 95% of all cases of reported child abuse take place within the child's family.