Observational studyPediatric radiology2018
Occult head injury is common in children with concern for physical abuse.
Observational study in Pediatric radiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identifying Risk Factors of Children Who Suffered Physical Abuse: A Systematic Review.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2025Pooled it
- L'évaluation médicale en cas de soupçons de trauma crânien causé par la maltraitance des enfants.Paediatrics & child health · 2025Article
- Medical assessment of suspected traumatic head injury due to child maltreatment (THI-CM).Paediatrics & child health · 2025Article
- Variation in Use of Neuroimaging in the Care of Infants Undergoing Subspecialty Evaluations for Abuse: A Multicenter Study.Academic pediatrics · 2025Article
- Development, contributions, and future directions of a multicenter child abuse research network.Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care · 2024Article
- Orthopedic manifestations of child abuse.Pediatric research · 2022Review
- Imaging of Abusive Head Trauma : A Radiologists' Perspective.Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society · 2022Article
- Practice Variation in Use of Neuroimaging Among Infants With Concern for Abuse Treated in Children's Hospitals.JAMA network open · 2022Observational
- Intracranial Injury Among Children with Abuse-Related Long Bone Fractures.The Journal of emergency medicine · 2020Article
- Clinically occult abusive head trauma: which age group should we screen?Pediatric radiology · 2019Article
- Intracranial Injuries in Asymptomatic Infants Undergoing Subspecialty Evaluation for Physical Abuse: A Multicenter Study.Academic pediatricsArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundStudies evaluating small patient cohorts have found a high, but variable, rate of occult head injury in children <2 years old with concern for physical abuse. The American College of Radiology (ACR) recommends clinicians have a low threshold to obtain neuroimaging in these patients.
objectivesOur aim was to determine the prevalence of occult head injury in a large patient cohort with suspected physical abuse using similar selection criteria from previous studies. Additionally, we evaluated proposed risk factors for associations with occult head injury. MATERIALS AND
methodsThis was a retrospective, secondary analysis of data collected by an observational study of 20 U.S. child abuse teams that evaluated children who underwent subspecialty evaluation for concern of abuse. We evaluated children <2 years old and excluded those with abnormal mental status, bulging fontanelle, seizure, respiratory arrest, underlying neurological condition, focal neurological deficit or scalp injury.
resultsOne thousand one hundred forty-three subjects met inclusion criteria and 62.5% (714) underwent neuroimaging with either head computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. We found an occult head injury prevalence of 19.7% (141). Subjects with emesis (odds ratio [OR] 3.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.8-6.8), macrocephaly (OR 8.5, 95% CI 3.7-20.2), and loss of consciousness (OR 5.1, 95% CI 1.2-22.9) had higher odds of occult head injury.
conclusionOur results show a high prevalence of occult head injury in patients <2 years old with suspected physical abuse. Our data support the ACR recommendation that clinicians should have a low threshold to perform neuroimaging in patients <2 years of age.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.