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Shaken Baby Syndrome (ER)
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| Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 | | CWK Producer |
“And it's not just one blow. It's the back and forth where the brain is bouncing on one portion of the skull and then another portion of the skull.”
– Daniel Young, M.D., Pediatric Radiologist
“You’re my baby,” a young mother says to her newborn. At the insistence of the hospital, the families' names are kept confidential.
She was at work when the phone rang. It was her husband at home, taking care of her 7-week-old son.
“[I] think it was about 6 o’clock, I got a call and it was him telling me I need to get home, something was wrong with the baby,” she tells the doctor.
The baby’s brain was bleeding inside of his skull.
“[I’m] just seeing a lot of dark area, that’s damaged brain right in there that’s not getting any blood supply,” says the doctor.
It’s just like having a stroke. A part of the baby’s brain is no longer getting any blood. The baby was shaken. In fact, the injury is called ‘shaken baby syndrome.’
“And it’s not just one blow. It’s the back and forth where the brain is bouncing on one portion of the skull and then another portion of the skull,” explains Dr. Daniel Young, Pediatric Radiologist.
The brain is soft, and the skull is hard. Even well-intentioned parents may not realize the harm.
“Now it’s ok a lot of times to hold a baby and pat ‘em,” says Dr. Carden Johnston, Pediatric Emergency Physician, “but if you have this baby and shake and shake and shake like that, trying to calm them down that’s probably still too much. So, just some gentle shaking and rocking is ok, but not the heavy shaking.”
And when the mother found out what happened, “I was hurt. Hurt and angry at the same time but I was more hurt because that was my son,” she says.
The experts here say most often, it’s a young parent alone in a kind of panic because the baby won’t stop crying.
“And they just have no idea,” says Peggy Williams-Logan, Pediatric Social Worker. “When we tell them they just are,” she pauses, “and then they’ll confess ‘well, I did shake him a little’. They just don’t realize what this does to small child.”
The boy’s future is not clear yet. But the doctors say his injuries are devastating.
The best advice says Williams-Logan, “Never ever shake a baby. Stop. Lay the baby down. Go get help. Call anybody. Get a neighbor, get a friend, anybody and say ‘I need help right now.”
The woman’s husband was placed under arrest and charged with three different counts of assault.
Tips for Parents
Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is the term used to describe the injuries a baby, or very young child, suffers from being violently shaken. The baby is shaken forcibly enough (usually when held by the arms or legs) to cause the baby’s brain to rebound (bounce) against the inside of his or her skull. According to the National Institutes of Health, this rebounding may cause bruising, swelling, and bleeding (intracerebral hemorrhage) of the brain. Such injuries may lead to permanent brain damage or death.
SBS is usually the result of child abuse. In rare cases, it may be caused by tossing the baby in the air or jogging with a baby in a backpack. Generally, the prognosis for children with Shaken Baby Syndrome is poor. The NIH says most will be left with considerable disability. Damage to the retinas may cause blindness. If the child survives, lifelong medical care for brain damage injuries (mental retardation, cerebral palsy) is likely.
In the event of SBS, emergency medical treatment is necessary and usually includes life-sustaining measures such as stopping internal bleeding and relieving intracranial pressure.
The Office of Children and Youth in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, says frustration and stress are reasons someone might shake a child. A crying child is reported to be the number one reason why people have shaken a child. Sometimes it is difficult to determine if a child has been shaken.
Here is a list of symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome:
- Glassy eyed appearance
- Convulsions
- Irritability
- Fixed pupils
- Seizures
- Sleepiness or inactivity
- Breathing problems
- Vomiting
- Choking
- Head is turned completely to one side
- Swelling of the head
- Pooling of blood in the eyes
Effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome:
- Subdural hematoma (the collecting of blood between the brain and skull).
- Axonal shearing (tearing of the child’s brain tissues).
- Cerebral edema (swelling of the brain).
- Retinal hemorrhage (bleeding along the back inside layer of the child’s eye).
- Retinal detachment (innermost layer of the eye detaches from the rest of the eyeball).
- Bone fractures of the skull and ribs.
- Other physical injuries may occur.
- Mental retardation.
- Coma.
- Death.
Never, ever shake a baby. This sounds like common sense, but recent research shows almost half of teenagers and adults don’t know that shaking a baby could be dangerous. The non-profit group SBS Prevention Plus is trying to make parents and other caregivers aware of Shaken Baby Syndrome, and encouraging positive parenting and childcare. According to SBS Prevention Plus:
- Constant crying is the most common triggering event for shaking a baby.
- Violent shaking is involved in many cases of abusive head trauma.
- People who shake children hard are most likely to be men in their early 20’s, often fathers or other males who are taking care of a baby alone for a short period of time.
- Comprehensive efforts are needed to educate all people never to shake a baby or child for any reason.
- You can make a difference.
References
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- Montgomery County (Pennsylvania) Office of Children and Youth
- SBS Prevention Plus, Groveport, OH
