On the Theory and Practice of Shaking Infants

Citation:

Caffey J: On the theory and practice of shaking infants. American Journal of Diseases in Children 124(2):161-169, August 1972.

Notes:

• The most common motive is to correct minor misbehavior.
• The perpetrators may not remember the traumatic episode or the kind and amount of violence.
• Subdural hematoma in infants is frequently not diagnosed because diagnostic signs and symptoms are indistinct.
• Whiplash-shaking of an infant's head is always dangerous.
• Less than lethal shaking may result in mental retardation and permanent brain damage.