The Yield of Skeletal Surveys in Suspected Child Abuse

Surveys were positive in 11% of children with suspected abuse.

Skeletal surveys are recommended in children younger than 2 years in whom abuse is suspected and in selected children between ages 2 and 5 years. Investigators retrospectively reviewed medical charts of 703 consecutive children (median age, 8 months) who underwent skeletal surveys for suspected child abuse at a single hospital in Pittsburgh between 2002 and 2006. A positive survey was defined as one that identified a previously unsuspected fracture.

Skeletal surveys were positive in 76 children (11%). Factors significantly associated with positive surveys were age younger than 6 months (16%), an apparent life-threatening event (18%), seizure (33%), and suspected head trauma (23%). Abuse was diagnosed in 58 of the 76 children with positive sk…

Reviewing Author

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)