The dangers of neonatal jaundice

High levels of neonatal jaundice can cause great harm to children, especially pathological jaundice. Generally, jaundice will gradually subside over time as the child develops, but we must be wary of pathological jaundice. Once it occurs, it will have a great impact on the child's liver function, easily lead to hemolysis, cause more serious infections, cause some metabolic diseases, and even cause greater harm to the baby's nervous system. More serious cases may cause the death of the child.

The dangers of neonatal jaundice

1. Jaundice caused by excessive bilirubin production, immature liver function and enterohepatic circulation in newborns, which leads to increased bilirubin concentration, is clinically called physiological jaundice. Physiological jaundice of full-term infants appears on the 2nd to 3rd day. At this time, the skin is light yellow, the sclera (white of the eye) is mainly blue with a slight yellow tint, the urine is slightly yellow, and the general condition is good. It reaches its peak on the 4th to 5th day and disappears in the 1st to 2nd week. Liver function examination is normal and serum unconjugated bilirubin is increased. Physiological jaundice in premature infants will appear earlier, be higher, and last longer, but it usually disappears within four weeks after birth.

Normal value of neonatal jaundice

1. Characteristics of physiological jaundice: (1) It appears 2-3 days after birth and gradually worsens, reaching its peak on the 4-6th day. Starting from the 2nd week, the jaundice gradually subsides. (2) Jaundice has a certain limit and its color will not be golden yellow. Jaundice is mainly distributed on the face and trunk, while the calves, forearms, hands and soles of the feet often have no obvious jaundice. If blood is drawn to measure bilirubin, it should not exceed 12 mg/dL for full-term infants during the peak period of jaundice, and 15 mg/dL for premature infants. (3) Physiological jaundice in full-term infants basically disappears by the end of the second week, while jaundice in premature infants generally disappears within the third week. (4) The child's body temperature is normal, his appetite is good, his weight is gradually increasing, and his stool and urine color are normal. 2. If neonatal jaundice has any of the following characteristics, it should be considered as pathological jaundice: 1. Jaundice occurs too early: full-term infants develop jaundice within 24 hours after birth, and premature infants develop jaundice within 48 hours. 2. The jaundice is severe: serum bilirubin exceeds the average value of normal infants of the same age, or increases by more than 85.5μmol/L (5mg/dl) per day. 3. Jaundice progresses rapidly, that is, it deepens a lot within a day. 4. Jaundice lasts for a long time (more than 2 weeks in full-term infants and more than 3 weeks in premature infants) or reappears after jaundice subsides. 5. Jaundice is accompanied by other clinical symptoms, or serum conjugated bilirubin is greater than 25.7μmol/L (1.5mg/dl).