What is Shaken Baby Syndrome?
Posted by: Lane Cockrell on: March 2, 2010
This information is from the website
The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome at:
1-888-273-0071
On the web: www.dontshake.org
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The Face of Brain Injury
Brain Injury Awareness Month March 2009
Northeast Center for Special Care
What is Shaken Baby Syndrome?
Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a severe form of physical child abuse. Shaken baby syndrome is a type
of inflicted traumatic brain injury that happens when a baby is violently shaken. Babies have weak neck
muscles and a large, heavy head. Shaking makes the fragile brain bounce back and forth inside the skull
and causes bruising, swelling, and bleeding, which can lead to permanent, severe brain damage or death.
The characteristic injuries of shaken baby syndrome are subdural hemorrhages (bleeding in the brain),
retinal hemorrhages (bleeding in the retina), damage to the spinal cord and neck, and fractures of the ribs
and bones. Symptoms of shaken baby syndrome include extreme irritability, lethargy, poor feeding,
breathing problems, convulsions, vomiting, and pale or bluish skin. Shaken baby injuries usually occur in
children younger than 2 years old, but may be seen in children up to the age of 5.
Often there is no obvious external head trauma and the injuries may not be immediately noticeable. Still,
children with SBS may display some outward signs that could include:
SBS can result in death, mental retardation or developmental delays, paralysis, severe motor dysfunction, spasticity, blindness, and seizures.
How Serious Is SBS In The United States?
Who Are The Perpetrators?
- An estimated 1,000 to 3,000 cases of SBS occur each year.
- One shaken baby in four dies as a result of their injuries.
- SBS accounts for an estimated 10-12% of all deaths due to neglect.
- Over 60% of SBS victims are male.
- The average age of SBS victims is between 3 and 8 months of age
- Change in sleeping pattern or inability to be awakened.
- Confused, restless, or agitated state.
- Convulsions or seizures.
- Loss of energy or motivation.
- Slurred speech.
- Uncontrollable crying.
- Inability to be consoled.
- Inability to nurse or eat.
- 80% of perpetrators are males in their early twenties.
- Predominantly, the abuser is the baby’s father or the mother’s boyfriend.
- Female perpetrators tend to be the child’s caregiver, not the mother.
- Caregivers include baby sitters and daycare workers.
Is there any treatment?
Emergency treatment for a baby who has been shaken usually includes life-sustaining measures such as respiratory support and surgery to stop internal bleeding and bleeding in the brain. Doctors may use brain scans, such as MRI and CT, to make a more definite diagnosis.
Learn more about brain injury, get more information about prevention and other helpful resources.
Visit:
http://brain-aware.northeastcenter.com
x Northeast Center for Special Care
A Specialty Rehabilitation Program for Traumatic Brain Injury
300 Grant Avenue
Lake Katrine, NY USA 12449
What is the prognosis?
In comparison with accidental traumatic brain injury in infants, shaken baby injuries have a much worse prognosis. Damage to the retina of the eye can cause blindness.
The majority of infants who survive severe shaking will have some form of neurological or mental disability, such as cerebral palsy or mental retardation, which may not be fully apparent before 6 years of age.
Children with shaken baby syndrome may require lifelong medical care and may require full time supervision
and care.
Children at Risk
Small children are especially vulnerable to this type of injury. Their heads are large in comparison to their
bodies, and their neck muscles are weak. Children under one year of age are at highest risk, but SBS hasbeen reported in children up to five years of age. Shaking often occurs in response to a baby crying or having a toilet-training accident.
The perpetrator tends to be male and is primarily the biological father or the mother’s boyfriend or partner.
Caregivers are responsible for about 9%-21% of cases. The explanation typically provided by the caregiver
”I was playing with the baby” or the baby fell does not begin to account for the severity of injuries
which are not consistent with the types of injuries associated with a fall. Many times with the perpetrator,
there is also a history of child abuse.
Preventing SBS
It is not known whether educational efforts will effectively prevent this type of abuse. Home visitation programs
are shown to prevent child abuse in general. Because the child’s father or the mother’s partner often
causes SBS, they should be included in home visitation programs. Home visits bring community resources
to families in their homes. Health professionals provide information, healthcare, psychological support, and
other services that can help people to be more effective parents and care-givers.
Hospitals with maternity programs across the country have developed educational programs where all new
parents undergo individual training sessions by hospital nurses on the dangers of SBS and strategies to
proactively and safely cope with a crying child. Parents receive one-on-one training from a certified nurse
educator, view video materials and may sign a ’parents certificate.’ In some programs parents are provided
with materials to train all other caretakers of their children. The nurse educators in these programs
follow-up with phone calls.
*Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, New York State Department of Health
Do you think your child has been shaken?
If so, seek medical care immediately. Prompt medical attention can save your child’s life.
For more information contact:
The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome at:
1-888-273-0071
On the web: www.dontshake.org
The Face of Brain Injury Brain Injury Awareness Month
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