Sonography in the diagnosis and management of pancreatic pseudocysts and effusions in childhood.

Blunt trauma to the abdomen is the main cause of pancreatic injury in childhood. One of the most common causes of injury is child abuse. Pancreatitis, pancreatic pseudocyst, and loculated peripancreatic effusion are sequellae of this trauma. The diagnosis of these lesions is aided by ultrasound. Pancreatic injury in children may require different methods of management than it does in adults. Persistently elevated serum amylase levels and increasing cyst size are indications for surgical intervention. However, the natural history of a pseudocyst in an otherwise normal child may lead to spontaneous resolution. In this report, three cases of pancreatic pseudocyst caused by child abuse are presented. In two of the patients, the cysts underwent spontaneous resolution.