🍼 Birth Injuries – Caput Succedaneum vs Cephalohaematoma

🔑 Key Learning

• Both are common scalp swellings in newborns following delivery trauma
• Caput succedaneum is soft, pitting oedema that crosses suture lines, present at birth, and resolves quickly
  • Caput is due to pressure-induced oedema
• Cephalohaematoma is a firmer, well-defined blood collection that does not cross sutures, appears later, and resolves slowly
  • Cephalohaematoma is due to subperiosteal bleeding
  • Can cause complications like jaundice 

🧬 Caput Succedaneum

Pathophysiology

• Caused by pressure on the foetal head against the cervix during labour
• Results in oedema of the scalp’s subcutaneous tissue, external to the periosteum

👀 Clinical Features

• Present at birth
• Soft, pitting oedema
• Crosses suture lines
• Resolves within a few days

🧬 Cephalohaematoma

Pathophysiology

• Caused by rupture of blood vessels crossing the periosteum during delivery
• Leads to blood accumulation between the periosteum and skull bone

👀 Clinical Features

• Appears hours to days after birth
• Firm, with well-defined edges
• Does NOT cross suture lines
• Resolves over weeks to months
• May lead to complications: jaundice (due to haemolysis), infection, or calcification

📝 Exam Clues & Clinchers

• Swelling present at birth, soft, crosses sutures → Caput succedaneum
• Delayed onset, firm swelling, does not cross sutures → Cephalohaematoma
• Prolonged resolution + jaundice risk → suspect Cephalohaematoma