title: Child sexual abuse. Physical examination.
abstract: Twenty-nine children were subjected to physical examination as part of a population-based study comprising 41 children, aged 0-17 years, all assumed to be victims of sexual abuse. The hymenal opening was measured with transparent test tubes of known diameters using a new, simple and reproducible method. The examination was in no case performed under anaesthesia. A dilated hymenal opening and/or other physical evidence of trauma or disease were found in 19/29 children. Examination results evaluated in the light of anamnestic information indicated that sexual abuse had occurred in 10 cases but in only 3 of these cases the suspect was convicted. Additional studies are required to shed light on age-related normal variations in genital anatomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lindblad
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ormstad
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Elinder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010808:Physical Examination; D013548:Sweden