Otolaryngologic manifestations of child abuse

Abstract

Currently, awareness is growing of child abuse in the medical and lay communities. To familiarize otolaryngologists with the head and neck findings in abused children, we retrospectively analyzed 85 patients admitted to an inner-city hospital with the diagnosis of abuse or neglect. Forty-eight children (56%) had abnormalities within the head and neck region. Excluding coincidental findings, 31 children (36%) had findings that could be directly linked to physical abuse or neglect. The face was the region with the most abnormal findings in our study (25 children [30%]). Soft-tissue findings were the most numerous (27 children [32%]). The literature is reviewed on the subject of otolaryngologic manifestations of abuse.