medical assessment, child sexual abuse, guidelines
The Midwest Regional CAC is honored to have been involved in the preparation and publication of this important manuscript. Click on the article title or the image on the left to access Updated Guidelines for the Medical Assessment and Care of Children Who May Have Been Sexually Abused published in the Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology.

From the abstract: The medical evaluation is an important part of the clinical and legal process when child sexual abuse is suspected. Practitioners who examine children need to be up to date on current recommendations regarding when, how, and by whom these evaluations should be conducted, as well as how the medical findings should be interpreted. A previously published article on guidelines for medical care for sexually abused children has been widely used by physicians, nurses, and nurse practitioners to inform practice in this field. Since 2007, when the paper was published, new research has suggested changes in some of the guidelines and in the table that lists medical and laboratory findings in children evaluated for suspected sexual abuse and suggests how these findings should be interpreted with respect to sexual abuse.