Bruising is the commonest injury in physical child abuse
1,2.
Diagnostic dilemmas centre around distinguishing abusive from
non-abusive bruises and determining the age of the bruise.Review last
updated end September 2009
Recent updates highlight the significance of
petechiae and scalping in abused children,
among other findings. A new publication, identified in the 2009 update
details patterns of bruising in disabled
children for the first time. While no new
studies addressed the ageing of bruises in children, there are novel scientific methods under
evaluation. We refer to these within 'other
useful references'.
Review questions
1.
What patterns of bruising suggest physical child abuse
2.
Can we age a bruise accurately?
References
1.Smith SM, Hanson R. 134 battered children: a medical and psychological
study. BMJ 1974;3:666-670.
2.Lynch A. Child abuse in the school-age
population. Journal of School
Health 1975;45(3):141-148.
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