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Shaken Infant Syndrome (also known as Shaken Baby Syndrome, SBS) is a relatively new term in the medical world. Simply put, it is a collection of symptoms produced when an infant is shaken violently or has sustained some type of head trauma. In an infant or child, any type of trauma to the head or cranial region results in some negative response to the body’s homeostatic system, causing the child to experience many complications and or maybe death. ... When a baby is shaken it is not usually an isolated incidence previous abuse is usually present (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001).
The idea of SBS came about in 1972, when a pediatric radiologist named, John Caffey, came out with the term “whiplash shaken baby syndrome”. The syndrome described a collection of clinical findings in infants including brain hemorrhages, retinal hemorrhages, with barely any signs of external cranial damage (Lazoritz et al, 1997). Every year, nearly 50,000 children in the United States are forcefully shaken by their caretakers. ... Many of the children get shaken because they will not stop crying. ... Caffey’s syndrome has been changed to include all forms of abusive head injury, including those caused by shaking alone, those caused by impact, and those caused by both (Lazoritz et al, 1997). ...
There are many reasons why a parent or caregiver may feel the need to violently shake there newborn or infant. ... “When brought to medical attention, the brain-injured infant may be convulsing, may have altered consciousness, may not be able to suck or swallow and may be unable to track with eye movements, smile, or vocalize” (AAP, 2001). ...
Shaken baby syndrome is difficult to diagnose, unless someone accurately describes what happens. Physicians often report that a child with possible shaken baby syndrome is brought for medical attention due to falls, difficulty breathing, seizures, vomiting, altered consciousness or choking (Showers, 1992b). The caregiver may report that the child was shaken to try to wake it up. ... Babies with severe or lethal shaken baby syndrome are typically brought to the hospital unconscious with a closed head injury (Spaide et al, 1997). A milder form of this syndrome can also be observed and may be missed or misdiagnosed. Symptoms which may be the result of shaken baby syndrome are often misdiagnosed as mild viral illnesses, feeding dysfunction or infant colic. ... The failure to thrive syndrome has also been present n many cases of SBS. ... The diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome can be made if the following three conditions are met; the child shows signs of an injury to the head, such as subdural or subarachnoid hemorrhages,, cerebral edema or skull fractures; if retinal hemorrhages are present in the eye; and if the injuries are regular with shaken baby syndrome and not another noticeable cause of injury (Spaide et al, 1997).
Approximate Word count = 2103
Approximate Pages = 8.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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