Shaken baby syndrome is a severe form of head injury caused by the
baby's brain rebounding inside of the baby's skull when shaken. In
this injury there is bruising of the brain, swelling, pressure, and
bleeding (intracerebral hemorrhage). This can easily lead to
permanent, severe brain damage or death. If a child has this injury
there are usually no outward physical signs of trauma, but there
may be a change in the child's behavior such as irritability,
lethargy, pale or bluish skin, vomiting, and convulsions.
Review Date: 07/21/2006
Reviewed By: Benjamin W. Van Voorhees, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine
and Pediatrics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Review
provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
