The impact of the consensus statement on abusive head trauma in infants and young children

Abstract

It seems paradoxical that facts, data and science are still considered controversial despite the harrowing death of a multitude of people from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an unparalleled health care crisis of our lifetime. In addition, while scientists are desperately attempting to produce a vaccine for COVID-19, a large segment of the populace still believes in conspiracies related to vaccines. Therefore, it is not surprising that the diagnosis of abusive head trauma (AHT) faces similar challenges — the difference being that AHT challenges are mostly in the realms of law courts rather than actual clinical management of these infants. Against this backdrop, the Child Abuse Imaging Committee of the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) collaborated with other leading experts to develop the consensus statement on AHT. This consensus statement has had a significant impact since its publication. It is now endorsed by 17 multinational, multidisciplinary organizations. The consensus statement has helped educate the diverse stakeholders of AHT and has helped further our understanding of AHT and the issues related to it. This could serve as the template for developing future consensus documents.