All children experiencing child maltreatment/neglect require child abuse experts to offer the complex care needed, and for the child with potential life-limiting injuries, both child abuse and palliative care experts are integral to the team. The current literature describes the involvement of child abuse pediatrics after patients are already engaged with pediatric palliative care (PPC). Here we describe a case of an infant who suffered injuries after nonaccidental trauma (NAT) and the subsequent role of PPC. In the case described, PPC was consulted in the context of a grave neurological prognosis after NAT. The mother retained full decision-making rights, and she wanted to protect her daughter from a life dependent on others and medical technology. Our team supported the mother in the face of multiple layers of loss—her daughter, her relationship with the perpetrator, her home, and the threat of job loss due to time away.

BACKGROUND:Recognizable skin findings of child physical abuse include bruises, abrasions, lacerations, bite marks, burns, and oral injuries. Self-induced skin picking, or neurotic excoriation, can correspond to emotional stress, underlying psychiatric illness, or substance abuse. Parental neurotic excoriation injury of children has not been reported previously as a form of physical abuse. METHODS:We present a case series of five children abused via parental excoriation. All affected children were three years of age or younger and otherwise healthy. Each child presented with wounds determined to be consistent with chronic picking. Patient age, injury location, and in some cases, witness accounts confirmed the lesions were not self-inflicted. RESULTS:In three cases, caregivers reported methamphetamine use. In these cases, caregivers repeatedly picked or wiped the infants' skin. In two cases, the caregiver demonstrated personal neurotic excoriation behavior, which was imposed upon her children resulting in similar lesions. One affected child died at 14 days of age from abusive head trauma, while the other four children were placed in foster care by Child Protective Services. CONCLUSION:Excoriation injury places children at risk for significant scarring and other long-term effects. We report examples demonstrating that repetitive skin injury by caregivers is a diagnostic consideration for abuse in young children.

BACKGROUND:The differential diagnosis of non-accidental injury during childhood includes medical conditions that predispose to skeletal fragility. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) has been proposed as one such condition despite little objective evidence in the medical literature. OBJECTIVE:To investigate if EDS causes increased bone fragility during infancy and childhood. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING:Residents of an 8-county region in southern Minnesota using the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) medical records-linkage system. METHODS:This retrospective, population-based, case-control study identified subjects with EDS from 1976 to 2015 who had complete records for at least their first year of life. Validity of diagnosis was ascertained using the 2017 International Classification of the Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes. Records were reviewed for fracture diagnoses that were characterized by age, location, type and mechanism. RESULTS:Of 219 potential cases, 21 had complete records for the first year of life and sufficient evidence in the medical record to support an EDS diagnosis. Of these 21, there were 14 hypermobile, 2 classical, 4 vascular, and 1 arthrochalasia EDS subtypes. 11 of 21 EDS cases (52.4%) and 15 of 63 controls (23.8%) had one or more fractures during childhood. No fractures were identified in the first year of life. Comparing cases to controls, EDS was associated with having any fractures during childhood with an odds ratio of 3.4 (95% CI: 1.20-9.66). CONCLUSIONS:We found no evidence that infants with common forms of EDS are predisposed to more frequent fractures. Ambulatory subjects with these EDS subtypes may have a higher incidence of fractures during childhood.

Cervical ganglia and nerve root injury with resultant paralysis of the phrenic nerve is proposed as a mechanism of injury in “shaken baby syndrome” or nonaccidental head injury of children. We report autopsy findings of a 22-month-old girl in which cervical ganglia and nerve hemorrhage was present along with the triad of encephalopathy, bilateral retinal hemorrhage, and bilateral subdural, intradural, and subarachnoid hemorrhages. Clear evidence of near immediate respiratory arrest was documented from first responder medical reports, juvenile witness statements, and perpetrator confession. The narrowing of time of injury from the anatomic findings at autopsy allowed investigative efforts to focus on a single individual and cleared several other adults with access to the child. Additional technical notes based on our experience are provided for users of cervical neck dissection. Hemorrhage in the tissues surrounding the vertebral artery raises a potential additional injury site in cases of neck injury.