Evaluation of suspected child abuse at the ED; implementation of American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines in the Netherlands

Abstract

Emergency departments (EDs) are important to detect child physical abuse. A structured approach will contribute to an adequate detection of abused children at the ED. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) provided guidance in the clinical approach to the evaluation of suspected physical abuse in children. In the Netherlands, these American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines have been adopted for the clinical process of child abuse detection. Here, we describe the outcome of the clinical process in the year 2010 with 65 cases of suspected child abuse out of 3660 children presenting at an ED, and we discuss the strengths and pitfalls of this current clinical approach.