Sentinel Injuries in Emergency Departments and Subsequent Serious Injury in Children.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

Sentinel injuries in young children are minor injuries that can raise suspicion of physical abuse. Although early identification is critical, widespread screening of patients can incur unintended harm to both children and their families. We determined the frequency of serious abusive injury within 12 months following an emergency department (ED) encounter for a sentinel injury.

METHODS

Using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State ED and Inpatient Databases, we identified children 0 to 24 months of age with an ED diagnosis of a sentinel injury between 2014 and 2019. Our primary outcome was serious abusive injury (admission for serious injury or death with a child abuse diagnosis) within 12 months of a sentinel injury ED visit.

RESULTS

Among 23,919 children with a sentinel injury ED visit (median age 5 months, 53% boys), bruise or fracture was diagnosed in 14,501 children (60.6%). In the 12 months following the sentinel injury visit, serious abusive injury was diagnosed in 176 (0.7%) patients. At the index ED encounter, abuse was diagnosed in 1,156 children (4.8%); 96 (8.3%) of these patients had an additional serious abusive injury diagnosed within 12 months.

CONCLUSION

Subsequent diagnosis of a serious abusive injury was uncommon after an initial ED sentinel injury diagnosis. Of all children in whom abuse was diagnosed during the study period, the majority of patients were diagnosed at the sentinel injury ED visit, with nearly 1 in 12 at risk for subsequent serious injury. Prospective studies are needed to further risk-stratify children with sentinel injuries.