• Marion Bailhache, Ambre Lafagne, Marie Lagarde, and Olivier Richer.
• From the Department of Pediatrics, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire de Bordeaux, Place Amélie Raba Léon.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2022 Jan 1; 38 (1): e310e315e310-e315.

ObjectiveDuring the first years of life, infant crying is a common trigger of abusive head trauma (AHT). Emergency department (ED) use by AHT victims before visits for child abuse symptoms is not well known, particularly for infant crying. Furthermore, diagnosis could be missed. In the same period, fever is a common reason for hospitalization unconnected with AHT. The main goal of our study was to compare the ED use by AHT victims before visits for child abuse symptoms and by children of the same age hospitalized for fever.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective case-control study from 2011 to June 2018 in a French hospital. We compared cases of AHT selected using the International Classification of Diseases and control subjects hospitalized in the general pediatric unit for fever without immunodeficiency matched in age. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed.ResultsAmong the 75 victims of AHT, 5 had at least 1 previous ED visit not linked with abuse. None had visited for infant crying. Among the control subjects, 34 had at least 1 previous ED visit, including 6 for infant crying. Among the 57 dyads of controls and cases living in the hospital's area, the controls had significantly more previous ED visits than the cases (P < 0.001). There were more male infants among the cases (72% vs. 55%, P = 0.033).ConclusionsOur study suggests that AHT victims had no more ED visits before visits for child abuse symptoms, particularly not for infant crying.Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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