MEDICAL SURFARI: NEVER SHAKE A BABY. EVER!

This article comes from our electronic archive and has not been reviewed. It may contain glitches.
Friday, May 21, 1999

As a neurosurgeon, I take care of patients who have had head trauma. Most of the time this is the result of a motor vehicle accident or a fall. Sometimes it is a result of a violent act of one against another. One of the most disturbing types of head injuries, and unfortunately a fact of life for many children, is a result of child abuse called "shaken baby syndrome". This syndrome is caused by vigorous shaking of an infant or child and is usually the result of an adult's inability to manage their anger or frustration because the baby will not stop crying. This type of injury does not occur from casually playing with a child but rather occurs because young children, especially babies, are still developing and the tissues and organs of their body are very fragile. They especially have weak neck muscles and cannot fully support their relatively heavy heads. Forceful shaking causes the brain to move back and forth within the skull, resulting in injury that is often permanent and sometimes even fatal.

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