Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma

Course overview

PEDIATRIC ABUSIVE HEAD TRAUMA 2 Contact Hours Upon completing this continuing education course, you will gain knowledge on how healthcare professionals can identify, assist, and effectively treat pediatric abusive head trauma. This course will provide a detailed discussion to help you expand on your current knowledge of pediatric abusive head trauma injury. Specific learning objectives to address potential learning gaps include: Define pediatric abusive head trauma Identify the signs and symptoms associated with pediatric abusive head trauma Discuss the statistics of pediatric abusive head trauma Discuss the risk factors associated with pediatric abusive head trauma Review the preventions/interventions of pediatric abusive head trauma Review treatment methods and medications for pediatric abusive head trauma Introduction Pediatric abusive head trauma also known as AHT (abusive head trauma) an injury to the skull or intracranial contents of an infant or young child under 5 years of age due to inflicted blunt impact and/or violent shaking to exclude gunshot/stab wounds along with any other penetrating trauma and unintentional injuries resulting from neglectful supervision (Parks et al, 2012). Pediatric abusive head trauma was widely known as baby shaken syndrome, however that terminology has been highly discouraged due to the limitations. Child abuse has been an ongoing issue with significant increase in fatalities associated with pediatric abusive head trauma. The differential diagnosis includes: Accidental head trauma Acute subdural Arteriovenous malformation Bleeding disorders Blood dyscrasias Cerebellar hemorrhage Connective tissue disorders Epidural hematoma Infectious subdural effusion Intracranial hemorrhage Metabolic disorders such as glutaric aciduria type 1, which causes retinal hemorrhages Stroke Subdural empyema