Child Physical Abuse

Head injuries – Subdural hematomas, a collection of blood on the surface of the brain, are most common in children less than 24 months of age and peak in incidence at 6 months of age. This bleeding causes an increase in the pressure in the brain, a condition that is an absolute medical emergency. Symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, especially in infants, include:

Lethargy

Vomiting

Loss of appetite

Seizures

High pitched cry

Increase in head circumference

Bulging fontanelles (soft spots) on the baby’s head

Separated sutures (the areas where skull bones grow together)

These head injuries are very often the result of Shaken Baby Syndrome. When a frustrated parent or caregiver picks up a child and violently shakes them back and forth, he is actually causing the baby’s brain to strike repeatedly against the inside of the skull. Other findings that may be present in a child who has been shaken include bone chips in the neck vertebrae that will be visible upon x-ray, finger marks on the baby’s arms or chest, and rib fractures.