Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma are significant traumatic brain injuries observed in infants and represent a critical public health issue. Although there is a vast literature on this subject, conducting a descriptive bibliometric analysis is essential to map the topic's quantitative development over time and to reveal its current geographical and conceptual distribution objectively. This study systematically analyzes 3,571 articles published between 1977 and 2025 in the Web of Science Core Collection database, examining the distribution of publications by year and country, leading journals, citation rates, and keyword networks. Our findings indicate a linear increase in the volume of SBS/AHT research publications since the 2000s. The analysis highlights two significant strengths and shifts in the literature. First, the emergence of countries from diverse regions-such as Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Russia-in the literature network, alongside traditional research hubs, objectively confirms the subject's expanding global scope. Second, the fact that the highest citation rates and publication density are not limited to clinical medicine journals (e.g., Pediatrics) but are simultaneously concentrated in pioneering journals with social and legal content (e.g., Child Abuse & Neglect) highlights the field's multidimensional and interdisciplinary nature. In conclusion, this study provides an objective resource for all stakeholders-including physicians, forensic scientists, and legal professionals-by visualizing the current geographic diversity of scientific output, key terms, and journal dynamics.
Non-accidental head injury leading to massive intracranial trauma has been identified as a leading cause of death in small children. In a typical case, a child usually below the age of one year is violently shaken, leading to rupture of the connecting veins between the dura mater and the brain substance with variable degrees of bleeding into the subdural space resulting in increased intracranial pressure. The accompanying venous thrombosis affecting the vessels of the brain substance leads to cerebral hypoxia and cellular death. In this study conducted throughout the year 1999, all children below the age of 3 years who were admitted to Hospital Kuala Lumpur and had died due to non-accidental injuries were included. Postmortems, including histopathological studies, were conducted to determine the most likely mechanisms of the injuries. Ten cases were identified for the whole year. In 2 cases, both below one year of age, the features presented showed evidence of violent shaking of the infants. In 6 other cases whose average age was 13 (range 4-24) months, there were evidences of direct trauma and violent shaking. In the last two cases, aged 24 and 33 months respectively, there was only evidence of direct trauma on the heads without being shaken. This study shows that death due to intracranial trauma caused by shaking with or without direct impact is the most frequent cause of mortality in abused children. Death due to direct impact between the head and another object is a less frequent occurrence.