Suspicious scars: physical child abuse vs Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

Authors

  • Amal Nishantha Vadysinghe University of Peradeniya, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine
  • Chatula Usari Wickramashinghe University of Peradeniya, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine
  • Dineshi Nadira Nanayakkara b District General Hospital, Intensive Care Unit. Nawalapitiya
  • Chandishni Ishara Kaluarachchi National Cancer Institute, Department of Oncosurgery

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4322/acr.2018.008

Keywords:

Child Maltreatment, Child Neglect, Ehlers Danlos Disease

Abstract

Child abuse is a sensitive topic among many medical practitioners and the diagnosis of this entity requires awareness about conditions which can mimic physical child abuse. Here, the authors present a case of a 13-year-old school non-attendee who was referred due to multiple scars, over areas prone to accidental as well as non-accidental injury, who underwent medicolegal examination due to suspicion of physical child abuse. On further inquiry, it was discovered that she had easy bruising and poor wound healing. A diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome was established and physical child abuse was excluded. This case emphasizes the importance of identifying conditions which may confound the diagnosis of physical child abuse. This is of utmost importance in avoiding adverse legal and psycho-social implications on the child, family and society.

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Published

2018-03-13

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2018)

Section

Article / Clinical Case Report

License

Authors of articles published by Autopsy and Case Report retain the copyright of their work without restrictions, licensing it under the Creative Commons Attribution License - CC-BY, which allows articles to be re-used and re-distributed without restriction, as long as the original work is correctly cited.

How to Cite

Vadysinghe, A. N., Wickramashinghe, C. U., Nanayakkara, D. N., & Kaluarachchi, C. I. (2018). Suspicious scars: physical child abuse vs Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Autopsy and Case Reports, 8(1), e2018008. https://doi.org/10.4322/acr.2018.008