ESTIMATION OF THE AGE OF BRUISING

Paediatricians are often requested to give an opinion on the age of a non-accidental bruise. In forensic textbooks, the colour changes which a bruise undergoes with time are not based on research in children. T he purpose of this study was to document the sequence of colour change s in photographs taken following accidental bruising in children. Fift y accidental bruises of known age in 23 children were photographed by a medical photographer using the same. equipment throughout. The photo graphs were reviewed by a single observer, blind to the true age of th e injury, who described the colours present in the bruise. Red coloura tion was seen in 15 out of 37 bruises which were less than one week ol d. Yellow colouration was seen in 10 out of 42 bruises over one day ol d. Aging of bruises from photographs was much less precise than textbo oks imply.