Medicolegal Approach to Child Physical Abuse in an Emergency Clinic

3 Adalet Bakanligi, Izmir Adli Tip Grup Baskanligi, Izmir, Turkiye Abstract abuse is a global health problem. For this reason, it is important to perform suitable medical approaches in suspected child abuse cases in the emergency room. The first consideration is performing life-saving medical ap - proaches. Reporting the case to judicial authorities and correlation of medical examination findings with the medicolegal history are other important steps. We report a case of a 3-year old male child who died after severe physical abuse. In suspected child abuse cases, examination of the fundus is impor- tant. If death occurs, histopathological examination of eye globes must be performed to determine the cause of death. The present case was the first case in which eye globe examination was performed in Izmir, Turkey. Autopsy findings revealed subdural haemorrhage and subarachnoid haemorrhage due to blunt trauma. The cause of death was blunt head trauma and the man- ner of death was listed as homicide. Except for microhaemorrhages in the optic nerve sheath, no pathological finding was identified in the retina. Reti - nal haemorrhage can be seen in child abuse cases and it is associated with a poor prognosis if present, although the absence of retinal haemorrhage does not exclude child abuse. Crime scene investigation findings, witnesses' state - ments, medical records and the autopsy findings must all be taken into con - sideration in child abuse cases in a correlative and holistic way. (JAEM 2013