Pediatricians design child abuse identification tool

A computer program developed by child abuse experts Nancy Kellogg, M.D., chief of the Division of Child Abuse Pediatrics and medical director of the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital Center for Miracles, and James Anderst, M.D., of Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., is bridging the gap between the professionals on the scene of a child injury case and child abuse pediatricians. “What happens is we get a child in a medical setting and are left with trying to find out what happened when the injury occurred,” Dr. Kellogg said. “Often the best information comes from law enforcement and CPS investigators, but because they aren’t physicians and don’t know the mechanisms of injury, they often don’t know what information is important to us to make a determination of abuse or neglect.” The program is available via smart phone and uses animation sequences, text, radiographs, CT scans and MRI scans to assist workers in the field.