Imaging Suspected Child Abuse

In case of non-accidental injury/suspected child abuse the skeletal survey and follow-up survey play a key role in diagnosing highly specific fractures and dating the injuries. Like other clinical and paraclinical examinations routinely undertaken under suspicion of NAI it is undertaken with the full knowledge and consent of the parents or guardians. Performing skeletal surveys require highly skilled staff and special attention to care, radiation dose, image quality and number of projections. Some radiological signs of abuse may be subtle requiring excellent image quality in order for the radiologist to make a diagnosis with sufficient certainty. As well as for other types of abuse, violence against children and even the suspicion alone has major consequences for the child and the family. Therefore, the radiology staff must perform the procedure with great rigour and strictly according to protocol. The talk will cover a brief introduction to the history of the battered child syndrome and discuss best practice, current guidelines and legal issues in relation to skeletal surveys.