Autopsy in Suspected Pediatric Non-Accidental Head Injuries

Non-accidental trauma is a leading cause of childhood traumatic injury and death in the United States. It is often under-reported in most of the countries. Non-accidental head trauma is a very common injury and a frequent problem in attempting to distinguish between inflicted and accidental injury. Inflicted head injury occurs usually at home in the presence of the individual who has inflicted the injury outside the view of unbiased witnesses. Distinguishing between inflicted and accidental injury is dependent upon the pathological findings and consideration of the circumstances surrounding the injury. This chapter reviews the autopsy technique that should be adopted by a forensic pathologist in case of suspected non-accidental head injury in infants and young children so as to determine the cause and manner of death.