Shaken Baby Syndrome Analysis

1. Explain the different forms of child abuse? Include Shaken Baby Syndrome in your response. The different forms of child abuse are , Physical Abuse , Emotional Abuse , Sexual Abuse , and Neglect. Physical abuse is violence directed toward a child by a parent or other adult caregiver. Emotional abuse is when a caregiver causes the child to feel worthless and rejected . Sexual abuse towards a child may be in a verbal way , leading to physical contact with the child. Finally , Neglect is when the parent or caregiver fails to care for their child's basic physical , emotional , disciplinary , and/or educational needs. Shaken Baby Syndrome is when an individual shakes a child violently over a period of time leading to

There are typically no witnesses and in 50 – 75 percent of all cases, no prior signs of child abuse. Unfortunately, there is no dependable method for collecting statistics and the true number of incidences is unknown. More importantly, it can be difficult to detect especially for mild cases. This syndrome is the most common reason of death and long-term disability in infants and young children. The disorder primarily takes place in children two years old and younger with the average age between three to eight months

     Shaken Baby Syndrome is difficult to diagnose, unless someone accurately describes what happens. Physicians often report that a child with possible Shaken Baby Syndrome is brought for medical attention due to falls, difficulty breathing, seizures, vomiting, altered consciousness or choking (Palmer). The caregiver may report that the child was shaken to try to resuscitate it. Physician look for retinal hemorrhages, (Retinal hemorrhages is bleeding in the retina of the eye), Subdural hematoma (blood in the brain), increased head size indicating excessive accumulations of fluid in the tissues of the brain (Palmer). Doctors and physicians also look for damage to the spinal cord, and broken ribs. This occurs because of the way the baby was held or grasped to hard. Doctors usually get Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans because they assist in showing injuries in the brain.

          SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, a leading cause of death in infants under the age of one, has left medical experts unable to clearly define sudden infant death syndrome. After thirty years of research, the medical field has not discovered definite causes for SIDS. Medical experts have suggested many theories that have been studied and debated.

The child can seem to be on alert, as if waiting for something bad to happen. Shies away from touch, seems reluctant to go home, flinches at sudden movement. The injuries a child has, appear as a pattern such as marks from a hand or belt.

Pediatric abusive head trauma, also known as shaken baby syndrome, is a devastating form of abuse. It occurs when a young child is violently shaken. The repeated shaking back and forth motion causes the child’s brain to bounce within the skull, resulting in bruising and swelling. This intentionally inflicted injury causes trauma to the head and neck region, including cranial, cerebral, and spinal injuries. It occurs in infants and small children because the muscles of the neck region aren’t strong enough to go against the shaking force that occurs. Some make a complete recovery; others are left with debilitating handicaps, and in some cases death occurs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012), states that among all the forms

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a condition that many people still are trying to figure out why it happens to these babies. This syndrome is described as an unexplained death of an infant younger than one year of age. SIDS is frightening because it can strike without warning and affect a good, healthy infant. Most SIDS deaths occur at night and without warning. SIDS victims may have been down for sleep for as little as ten minutes, they show signs of struggle or suffering. Although SIDS is commonly associated with an infants sleep time, and often occurs in the crib. This event is not limited to the crib and may occur anywhere the infant is sleeping, deaths have occurred in

There are two different forces, linear, and rotational. The force linear is a straight on force. The brain bounces forward and backward. The rotational force is when the brain rotates side to side. Linear causing bruising and tearing, while rotational stretches the

SIDS and how to prevent it, are still limited. The leaders in this field are

In the cases of inflicted brain trauma, abuse can sometimes be difficult to diagnose because the baby may not have any external marks, other than bruises on chest and extremities from where the infant was held (Lyden, 2011). Researchers say that retinal hemorrhages in infant’s eyes should be considered as signs of abuse until proven otherwise, although they acknowledge that retinal bleeding in infants can be caused by other conditions, those conditions can be ruled out through history, physical exam, and labs (Lyden, 2011).

Children who encounter domestic violence face increased risk of exposure to traumatic events. These risks may include neglect, being directly abused, losing one or both of their parents. At birth, a baby’s brain is 25% of its adult weight, increasing to 66% by the end of the first year due to the “brain growth spurt” which occurs between the seventh prenatal month and the child’s first birthday. The developing brain is the most vulnerable to the impact of traumatic experiences during this time. New research on the brain development suggests that exposure to extreme trauma will change the organization of the brain, resulting in difficulties in dealing with stress later in life(NSW, 2002). Exposure to domestic violence can subject children to pervasive traumatic stress which leads to Post -traumatic Stress Disorder also known as PTSD. Post traumatic stress disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. It can occur after you have gone through an extreme emotional trauma that involved the threat of injury or death. Summarizing several studies, Rossman and colleagues report that 13-50% of youth exposed to interparental violence qualify for diagnosis of PTSD (NCBI,2007). Each child responds differently to trauma, some may be rigid and not exhibit negative effects. In 2011, child protective services received 3.4 million referrals, over 75 percent suffered from neglect which is one of the effects from children exposed to domestic violence. The National Comorbidity Survey

In the case of a non-verbal child, he/she can only express their pain by crying, relying solely on the parent or caretaker to provide an explanation, as to the mechanism of injury. The sad reality is “around 80% of child maltreatment fatalities involve at least one parent as perpetrator and more than 70% of the children who died as a result of child abuse or neglect were two years of age or younger."2 Abused children have lost their sole advocate and they have no voice and there in lies the dilemma, who will step up and be their voice. Healthcare professional are the front line defense in identifying child abuse and protecting these vulnerable defenseless victims. As much as an estimated 50% percent of child abuse goes

The past few decades has witnessed the increased in frequency of motor accidents and violence. The most common causes of injury for the young people up to the fourth decade of life include motor vehicle accidents, physical aggression and sports trauma.1,2 Facial trauma in children have a devastating effect both on child as well as on family. Children are more prone to facial fracture because on greater cranial mass to body ratio (8:1). One to fifteen percentage of the total facial fractures occur in children.3-6 The presence of unerupted tooth, lack of pneumatization of the para nasal sinus, low mineralization of bone, flexible suture lines makes children more vulnerable to green stick fractures when compared to adults.7 In addition to this,

However, culture such as beliefs, family influence, and previous experience of pain cannot be ignored. Assessing pain relies on excellent communication between the child, family, caregivers, and healthcare professionals in the multidisciplinary team. Out of the many tools to assess pain, it is paramount to use validated and reliable tools appropriate for the age, cognitive level, culture, language, and ethnic background. Care personnel and parents of a child with an injury can help a great deal by providing vital interpretation of facial expressions and body positions because they are familiar with the child’s normal behavior. This type of practice is vital and effectively used with a cognitively impaired child who cannot self report their

It is the most common involuntary movement seen in infants, which disappears completely as they mature. The neuro-development of the babies with No other overt neurological sign but tremulousness is generally good, especially when their is no history of complications during pregnancy, or immediately