Scintigraphy in children
A scintigraphy is always a certain stress for the body because there is radioactive material in the body and it interacts with it. Therefore, scintigraphy is often avoided in children. However, if there is a suspicion of child abuse, the scintigraphy can provide information.
If a child is beaten, there are usually no directly visible bone fractures. But even the bruising of the bone and surrounding tissue can be detected with the help of the scintigram. The reason for this is increased metabolic activity.
The bruised area is increasingly supplied with blood. The reason can be the bursting of a small artery, which leads to skin bleeding. In most cases, however, a contusion is accompanied by increased blood circulation.
The damaged tissue tries to regenerate itself and therefore needs more blood, which leads to increased blood circulation and metabolic activity in the area of the bruise. This increased activity can be seen in the scintigram.