Shaken baby syndrome: What you need to know

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted Master, Doctor Phan Ngoc Hai - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital. Dr. Hai used to work at the Neonatology Department of Da Nang Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital and Hoan My Da Nang Hospital. His strength is in general pediatric examination and treatment, neonatal examination and treatment, pediatric resuscitation.
Vibration syndrome in children causes many serious injuries, seriously affecting the health and future of children. The knowledge about shaking syndrome will help parents take effective preventive measures, reducing the risk of the syndrome happening to their children.

1. What is shaken baby syndrome?

Shaken baby syndrome usually appears in children under two years old, concentrated in the age from birth to 8 months. When shaking syndrome occurs in infancy, it is called infant shake syndrome.
At this age, the child's head weight accounts for a large proportion, about 1/4 of the body weight, the neck muscles are still weak and cannot hold the weight of the head. The child's brain has not yet developed, the skull bone is soft, the meninges are thin, there is a space between the brain and the skull, so when the child is shaken, especially when juggling, spinning strongly, the brain mass will move according to inertia and The impact on the skull causes severe brain damage. This impact force will suddenly increase if the child's head is hit against a hard surface.
Vibration syndrome in children is compared to adults with traumatic brain injury due to car accidents.

Just shake the baby for 5 seconds can be dangerous. Shaking the baby will cause the following serious consequences:
Subdural hematoma Subarachnoid hematoma Direct trauma to the surface of the brain when the brain hits the inner face of the skull Causes breakage, tearing of cell branches nerves in the cortex and deep structures of the brain If a baby stops breathing when shaken, it will cause irreversible brain damage when the brain is starved of oxygen Breaking the skull if the baby's head is bumped against hard surfaces Retinal hemorrhage Fractures of bones such as collarbone, ribs, and extremities Shaken syndrome in children occurs due to the unintentional and ignorant habit of adults when pampering children with actions such as juggling, picking up children high to play the plane game; when shaking the hammock/crib too hard to put the baby to sleep.
In addition, sometimes due to stress, fatigue because the baby doesn't stop crying, parents or caregivers shake the baby as a form of relief. This is considered a form of abuse that seriously affects the health and future of children.

2. How dangerous is shaking syndrome in children?

Depending on the condition of the injury, it will affect the child to different degrees, but most are very severe. If severe, the child may die as a result of cerebral hemorrhage, increased intracranial pressure secondary to cerebral edema or tearing of brain tissue. The neurological sequelae of shaking syndrome may be encountered such as cerebral palsy, paralysis, retinal hemorrhage, vision loss, blindness, deafness, epilepsy, convulsions, etc. ..
Even minor injuries can slow down children's mental development, reduce learning ability, and fail to speak fluently, some of which are detected only when the child is old enough to require treatment. Intensive, long-term treatment.

3. Symptoms of shaken baby syndrome

Shaking syndrome in children has very diverse manifestations, often difficult to detect and easily confused with other diseases. The following physical symptoms of the child may appear immediately after shaking and peak after 4 to 6 hours:
The child is lethargic, struggling, irritable, fussy, lethargic, lethargic , lethargy Child is agitated, anorexia, nausea Coma, convulsions, pupils dilated and unresponsive to light Breathing rate is shallow, abnormally slow, irregular Child lying on head back, back Arc curve Cardiac arrest, death Physical symptoms of shaken syndrome include:
Skin laceration, contusion, trauma bulging fontanel, chest, abdominal injury, facial bruising, scalp, arms Abdominal or back Abnormally low blood pressure, soft tissue edema indicative of skull fracture Retinal hemorrhage, closed brain hemorrhage

4. Prevention of shaking syndrome in children

When a child has the above symptoms, parents must quickly call an ambulance to take the child to the hospital, do not hold the child, do not try to shake the child to wake up. If the child stops breathing, give him CPR. If your child has a neck injury, try to avoid rotating and immobilizing the child's neck. If the child is vomiting and there is no neck injury, turn the child's head slightly to the side to prevent choking when vomiting and to prevent breathing.
Shaken baby syndrome is completely preventable. To avoid shaking syndrome, parents must be very careful, always remembering that they should never shake, shock, toss or throw a baby. When holding, keep the baby's neck in a fixed position. When a child cries, one should find out the cause, see if the child is hungry, has a fever, urinates or is bitten by an insect,... Crying is a normal physiological activity of a child in the first few months of life. express a wish that needs adult support, sometimes the child cries because there are many things going on around, it is too noisy, the child needs to be quiet or the child cries because of sleep.
When babies cry, parents and caregivers need to be calm, don't get angry, don't hit the baby, don't put the baby to sleep by shaking the hammock vigorously. After checking all the causes are fine and the baby is still crying, you can put the baby in a safe bed/crib to cry alone or call for help. Children can be examined by a pediatrician if parents suspect a certain medical condition is causing the baby to cry.
As a key area of ​​Vinmec Health system, Pediatrics Department always brings satisfaction to customers and is highly appreciated by industry experts with:
Gathering a team of top doctors and nurses in Pediatrics : consists of leading experts with high professional qualifications (professors, associate professors, doctorates, masters), experienced, worked at major hospitals such as Bach Mai, 108.. Doctors All doctors are well-trained, professional, conscientious, knowledgeable about young psychology. In addition to domestic pediatric specialists, the Department of Pediatrics also has the participation of foreign experts (Japan, Singapore, Australia, USA) who are always pioneers in applying the latest and most effective treatment regimens. . Comprehensive services: In the field of Pediatrics, Vinmec provides a series of continuous medical examination and treatment services from Newborn to Pediatric and Vaccine,... according to international standards to help parents take care of their baby's health from birth to childhood. from birth to adulthood Specialized techniques: Vinmec has successfully deployed many specialized techniques to make the treatment of difficult diseases in Pediatrics more effective: neurosurgery - skull surgery, stem cell transplantation. blood in cancer treatment. Professional care: In addition to understanding children's psychology, Vinmec also pays special attention to the children's play space, helping them to have fun and get used to the hospital's environment, cooperate in treatment, improve the efficiency of medical treatment.

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