2011 Unexplained fractures - child abuse or bone disease CORR Open Access

Description: Background Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a serious problem that has major implications for the welfare of the child involved. Unexplained fractures are of particular concern to the orthopaedic surgeon, who must often consider alternative diagnoses to CAN.
Questions/purposes We therefore (1) determined which bone diseases most commonly mimic CAN; (2) what types of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) are most commonly confused with CAN and why; and (3) what specific findings in OI and bone disease render a mistaken diagnosis of CAN more likely.
Methods A systematic review of the literature was performed.
Unexplained fractures: child abuse or bone disease? A systematic review. Pandya NK, Baldwin K, Kamath AF, Wenger DR, Hosalkar HS. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2011 Mar;469(3):805-12 (full text)