Hasn’t Child Abuse Been Overlooked? An Evaluation of Abused Children Who Visited the Emergency Department with Sentinel Injuries

A significant proportion of children presenting to emergency departments had sentinel injury codes. However, the rate of diagnostic tests conducted for suspected child abuse in these cases remains suboptimal. Although there has been an upward trend in testing rates in recent years, there is a pressing need for increased attention to and enhancement in screening for child abuse among children with sentinel injury codes.