Things that go bump in the day or night: the aetiology of infant head injuries presenting to a Scottish Paediatric Emergency Department.

The aim of this study was to describe the aetiology and severity of head injury in an infant (age<1 year) population presenting to a Scottish Paediatric Emergency Department (PED) and to discern preventable risk factors. The records of infants who presented to the PED of the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital between September 2010 and December 2011 with isolated head trauma were reviewed, patient demographics were extracted and information on aetiology, including nonaccidental injury (NAI), was recorded. Of 1574 attendances, 233 suffered isolated head injury. The majority (97%) were minor; six patients suffered skull fractures, three had traumatic intracranial haemorrhage and only three were considered to have sustained an NAI. The most common mode of injury was fall from a height (37%). Infants commonly present to the PED with head injury, many of which should be easily preventable. The number of cases because of NAI in our population is smaller than previously published figures.