Pediatrics

Screening tool flags potential abuse in children with a single bruise

February 20, 2025

Findings support use of the TEN-4-FACESp bruising clinical decision rule (BCDR) as an effective screening tool for identifying abuse in young children with a single bruise. However, due to the higher rate of false negatives observed in this study, negative BCDR results should be interpreted with caution.

Study details: This study is a secondary analysis of the TEN-4-FACESp BCDR validation study, focusing on children younger than 4 years with a single bruise. The study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the BCDR in predicting abuse and to identify characteristics differentiating abusive from accidental injuries.

Results: Among 349 patients with a single bruise, 27 were classified as abuse. The BCDR demonstrated 81.5% sensitivity and 87.6% specificity in this cohort. Abusive injuries were more common in younger children, those with bruises in BCDR-positive regions, lower Glasgow Coma Scores, and those with psychosocial risk factors.

Source:

Raut A, et al. (2025, February 18). Pediatrics. Single Bruise Characteristics Associated With Abusive vs Accidental Injury. Pediatrics. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39961331/