Non-accidental head trauma

You know it's bad when you see police officers roaming the halls of a pediatric emergency room. It usually means that some child has been abused to the point of needing emergent medical care. Of these poor innocents, the pediatric neurology consult service usually sees those who have suffered head trauma.

My attending last week told me that the politically correct term to use in my notes is "non-accidental head trauma." That phrase didn't sit well with me because it skirts the real issue, that the head trauma wasn't just "non-accidental" but rather a result of gross physical child abuse. I was relieved this morning when my new attending told me to refer to it "abusive head trauma."

Call it as it is.