Medical child abuse (MCA) is a rare but potentially deadly variant of child maltreatment. MCA results in unnecessary health care for a child because of a caregiver's exaggeration, fabrication, or induction of physical and/or psychological symptoms of illness. These unnecessary health care interventions result in a morbidity rate of 100% in the form of complications and disabilities and a mortality rate as high as 9%. Although MCA is relatively rare, it is estimated that pediatric health care professionals, including pediatric nurse practitioners, will most likely encounter at least one MCA victim in the course of their career. This continuing education article will discuss MCA in terms of definition and features, epidemiology, perpetrators, variants in presentation, consequences, and implications for practice.

医疗虐待儿童 (MCA) 是虐待儿童的一种罕见但可能致命的变体。由于看护者夸大、捏造或诱发疾病的身体和/或心理症状，MCA 会导致儿童不必要的医疗保健。这些不必要的医疗保健干预导致并发症和残疾形式的发病率达到 100%，死亡率高达 9%。尽管 MCA 相对罕见，但据估计，包括儿科护士在内的儿科保健专业人员在其职业生涯中很可能会遇到至少一名 MCA 受害者。这篇继续教育文章将从定义和特征、流行病学、肇事者、表现形式的变体、后果和对实践的影响等方面讨论 MCA。