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It's Time for Standardized Training, Referral Centers, and Routine Peer Review

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1999;153:1121-1122.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

THE ARTICLE by Bowen and Aldous¹ in this month's ARCHIVES is a welcome addition to the literature on medical assessment of suspected child sexual abuse. Once again, the history given by the child is revealed as the most important factor in assessing possible abuse, and the results of physical examination are shown to be normal or nonspecific in 83.5% to 94.4% of the cases. Of patients referred by physicians for suspicious physical findings without any history, only 14.3% of patients actually had suspicious genital or anal findings on examination.

Figure appears in full text version. Joyce A. Adams, MD

Physicians who rarely perform careful genital or anal examinations on their patients will often become alarmed by the appearance of the vaginal opening in a prepubertal girl or the gaping of the anus in a child who probably has stool in the rectal vault. If the parent is suspicious of abuse, or the child is acting "funny" . . . [Full Text of this Article]

RELATED ARTICLE

Medical Evaluation of Sexual Abuse in Children Without Disclosed or Witnessed Abuse
Kathryn Bowen and Michael B. Aldous
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1999;153(11):1160-1164.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

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Continuing Medical Education in Child Sexual Abuse: Cognitive Gains but Not Expertise
Botash et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2005;159:561-566.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT