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Clinical features

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

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The features of physical abuse may be nebulous, and sadly the health care professional must maintain a high index of suspicion in all children where an injury has occured.

Features include:

  • bruising
  • fractures
  • burns or scalds
  • bites
  • the child may be afraid of a certain person, or of everyone

An important feature of physical child abuse is the history. Features include:

  • inconsistent history - from one telling to the next, or from one carer to the next
  • a delay between the injury and presentation
  • an injury out of proportion to the alleged accident - for example a fall from a sofa to a carpeted floor being used to explain a skull fracture in a young child.

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The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

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