Forensic and Medical Characteristics of Physical Injuries to Children as Manifestations of Cruel Treatment Towards Them and the Consequences of Domestic Violence
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The article provides a forensic medical description of physical injuries in children of the first year of life, which were caused by cruel treatment and were the consequences of domestic violence. The aim of the study. To provide a forensic-medical characterization of physical injuries in children of the first year of life, caused by cruel treatment of them and associated with domestic violence. Material and methods. The material of the study was «Acts of forensic medical examination» and «Conclusions of an expert» from the archives of the Dnipropetrovsk regional and Kyiv city bureau of forensic medical examination regarding the cases of death of 8 children of the first year of life, related to domestic violence. Scientific research of the Department of Pathological Anatomy, Forensic Medicine and Pathological Physiology of the Dnipro State Medical University "Pathogenesis of damage to the central nervous system and internal organs after exposure to extreme conditions". State registration number: 0124 U005073 (2025-2028). Bioethics. Approved by the Bioethics Commission of the Dnipro State Medical University (protocol No. 28 dated 08.04.2025). The results. Physical injuries in children of the first year of life were identified and described as the consequences of cruel treatment of them and related to domestic violence. Conclusions. According to the results of the forensic medical examination of children of younger childhood age, the physical manifestations of violent acts were sores, bruises (hemorrhages) and closed wounds, which were localized in different parts of the head, trunk and limbs, and according to morphological features, had different terms of formation. In some cases, physical injuries were manifested in the form of focal hemorrhages (bruises) on the limbs of children in the form of fingerprints of an adult's hands due to the strong holding of the victims, probably by one of the parents or guardians. In most cases, the consequences of child abuse were open and closed craniocerebral injuries, which were accompanied by fractures of the bones of the skull and hemorrhages under the soft coverings of the head and the covering of the brain with the destruction of its substance. The consequences of active shaking of children of the first year of life were hemorrhages in the retina of the eyeball, in the neck area, in the mediastinal organs, lungs, and heart, which were manifested in the form of subpleural and subepicardial hemorrhages. Physical manifestations of violent actions against children of the first year of life were also damage to the organs of the abdominal cavity in the form of hemorrhages in the soft tissues of the abdomen, lacerations of the liver, spleen, hemorrhages in the mesentery of the intestine, in the perirenal adipose tissue and adrenal glands, and blood in the abdominal cavity.
Source: Sudovo-medična ekspertiza
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4412997666