Shaken baby syndrome

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"An intraparenchymal bleed with overlying skull fracture from abusive head trauma", indicative of the syndrome
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Denialism
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Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a well-defined type of intentional injury to young children: severe rotational acceleration of the head, causing serious whiplash-type injuries, broken bones, and/or haemorrhages. It was first described in the early 1970s by pediatric neurosurgeon Norman Guthkelch and pediatrician/radiologist John Caffey,[1][2] and has since been recognized as a common form of childhood injury and death. By definition, it arises from child abuse in that the shaking required is violent enough that an outside observer would recognize it as violent and abusive.[3]

Prevalence[edit]

SBS is believed to affect about 1300 children in the U.S. yearly, with about 25% of he children dying from the abuse.[4]

Denialism[edit]

There is a large denialism movement directed towards SBS that seems to arise from the legal system. While there is certainly some disagreement in the medical community[5] about mechanisms, definitions, and how to accurately diagnose the syndrome,[6] it is generally agreed that the syndrome exists and kills babies.[7] A 2011 article in The New York Times magazine threw some more skepticism into the mix.[8]

Much of the denialism of SBS arises from defense attorneys in courtrooms who rely on disputing "the triad" of diagnoses ("brain swelling, brain hemorrhaging and retinal hemorrhaging"), yet from a medical standpoint the triad is a strawman argument, a term that is not used by child abuse pediatricians. The three diagnoses do often occur with SBS, but medial diagnosis is more complex that that.[9] Christopher Greeley, a child abuse pediatricians, has found that SBS denialist tactics are similar to those of climate change denialists and antivaxxers (use of fake experts, insisting on absolute certainty, and cherry picking).[9]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Infantile Subdural Haematoma and its- Relationship to Whiplash Injuries by A. N. Guthkelch (1971) British Medical Journal 2:430-431.
  2. "The Whiplash Shaken Infant Syndrome: Manual Shaking by the Extremities With Whiplash-Induced Intracranial and Intraocular Bleedings, Linked With Residual Permanent Brain Damage and Mental Retardation" by John Caffey (1974) Pediatrics 54 (4): 396–403. doi:10.1542/peds.54.4.396.
  3. Shaken Baby Syndrome: Rotational Cranial Injuries: Technical Report by the Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect (2001) Pediatrics 108(1):206-210. Archived from August 26, 2004.
  4. Fact Checked: Abusive Head Trauma in Children: Recognizing and Preventing a Serious Threat (03/20/2025) American Academy of Pediatrics.
  5. Shaken baby syndrome: the quest for evidence by Waney Squier (2008) Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 50(1):10-4. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2007.02004.x.
  6. Traumatic shaking - The role of the triad in medical investigations of suspected traumatic shaking: A systematic review (October 25, 2016) Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services.
  7. High Degree of Medical Consensus in Shaken Baby Syndrome Acceptance (22 July 2016) National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome (archived from September 3, 2017).
  8. Shaken-Baby Syndrome Faces New Questions in Court by Emily Bazelon (Feb. 6, 2011) The New York Times.
  9. 9.0 9.1 No, shaken baby syndrome has not been discredited. Despite what defense lawyers claim, the diagnosis is real, doctors say. by Tara Haelle (July 16, 2025 at 9:00 am) Science News.