Pediatric Abuse: Head Trauma

Course overview

Pediatric abusive head trauma, also known as shaken baby syndrome, is a severe form of child abuse that most often affects infants. Historically multiple terms have been used to describe the condition, but abusive head trauma (AHT) is now the preferred term. Shaking an infant can cause neurological injury but blunt impact is also an important cause of this injury. This course explains the history, challenges of diagnosis, risk factors, and long-term effects of pediatric abusive head trauma. It also explains the clinical presentation, including the mechanism of injury, characteristic and non-specific signs and symptoms along with components of a child abuse workup.