Diagnosing fractures in child physical abuse: a review study

Physical child abuse refers to the severe punishment of a child, as well as the child's excruciating pain due to physical punishment. When this type of child abuse is very severe, it can lead to broken bones of the child. Objectives review published studies to identify the characteristics that diagnosis fractures in children resulting from physical child abuse. Data sources All language literature search of Medline, Medline in Process, Embase, CINAHL, ISI, Scopus, SID, Magiran for original study articles, references, textbooks, and conference abstracts until March 2023.The results showed that in the diagnosis of child abuse, points such as history taking, laboratory tests, and physical examination should be considered. When infants and toddlers present with a fracture in the absence of a confirmed cause, physical abuse should be considered as a potential cause. During the assessment of individual fractures, the site, fracture type, and developmental stage of the child can help to determine the likelihood of abuse. The number of high quality comparative research studies in this field is limited.