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I have heard that certain types of breaks in children's bones make doctor's suspicious about child abuse. What types of breaks would these be?

Doctors have to be on the look out for child abuse, particularly in emergency departments where children come with broken bones and other injuries.

From experience, the medical community has learned that certain types of breaks don't often happen in certain age children, although accidents do happen. For example, a complete fracture of the thigh bone is not a common injury among children who can't walk yet. In a recent study, researchers examined the records of 20 children under the age of 1 year who had these fractures. They found that 10 were victims of abuse and 5 were highly suspicious.

Reference: 

Alexandre Arkader, MD, et al. Complete Distal Femoral Metaphyseal Fractures; A Harbinger of Child Abuse Before Walking Age. In Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics. October/November 2007. Vol. 27. No. 7. pp. 751-753.

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