Methods for collecting blood from the soles of newborn babies

Heel blood sampling should be done within 3 to 7 days after birth and the newborn should be fully breastfed. For those who do not have blood drawn for various reasons (premature babies, low birth weight babies, those discharged early, etc.), the blood should be drawn no later than 20 days after birth. Newborn disease screening is done by collecting heel blood from the newborn at the delivery hospital (the blood is dropped onto a special paper and the blood spot is then sent to the Newborn Disease Screening Center for testing). On the basis of routine blood collection, blood is collected from newborns after regular breastfeeding, bathing, and alcohol heel massage. Let's take a look at it below.

1. Hold the sole of your foot with your left hand;

2. When drawing blood, squeeze the sole of the foot with your left hand, and at the same time, hold the calf on the same side with your right hand, using moderate force and relaxing intermittently;

3. Use the index and middle fingers of your left hand to clamp the calf from the popliteal fossa along the small saphenous vein and push down to the ankle joint to clamp it, collect blood, and prevent blood reflux;

4. Warm your feet and let the blood flow out naturally without squeezing;

5. After taking a bath, use a warm towel to apply heat to the blood collection point;

6. In addition to routine blood collection, blood should be collected from newborns after regular breastfeeding, bathing, and alcohol heel massage.

What can be tested in a newborn baby's heel stick test?

Phenylketonuria Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive genetic disease. It is named because the baby has phenylalanine metabolism disorder, which causes a large amount of phenylpyruvate and other metabolites to be excreted in the urine. Phenylalanine is one of the essential amino acids for the human body. After being taken into the body through food, part of it is used by the body for protein synthesis, and the rest is converted into other substances. Phenylalanine in the baby's body cannot be metabolized normally and accumulates in the body, causing damage to the central nervous system and a series of pathological changes. Signs of illness: The baby will gradually develop hair turning from black to yellow, skin turning white, and eye irises becoming lighter, and will also have neurological abnormalities such as increased muscle tone, abnormal gait, slight tremors in the hands, and repetitive limb movements. Parents should be particularly aware that baby urine has a very unpleasant rat urine smell. In addition, babies are prone to eczema, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. A low-phenylalanine diet is used in treatment to ensure the supply of various nutrients needed for the baby's normal growth and development, while avoiding excessive intake of phenylalanine. Once diagnosed, treatment should be started immediately; the earlier the treatment, the better the prognosis.

TIPS

1. Be sure to strictly control your baby's diet according to the doctor's requirements. Phenylalanine should not be consumed too much or too little. Insufficient phenylalanine supply can also lead to growth retardation.

2. Adjust the diet regularly. Generally, the diet for babies under 1 year old should be adjusted once a month, for those over 1 year old the diet can be adjusted once every 2 months, and for school-age children the diet can be adjusted once every 3 to 4 months.

3. Breastfeed under the guidance of a doctor and never stop breastfeeding.

4. Regularly check the baby's blood phenylalanine concentration and conduct physical and intellectual development examinations on the baby every 6 months to 1 year.

5. Treatment should last at least until puberty maturity, and it is best to have lifelong treatment.

6. When a female PKU baby reaches childbearing age, she needs to strictly control her diet starting in the first six months of pregnancy and monitor blood phenylalanine concentration until delivery to avoid affecting the development of the fetal nervous system.

7. The prevention method of phenylketonuria is to avoid consanguineous marriage; couples who have PKU babies should undergo genetic testing of both spouses before getting pregnant again, and genetic testing of the fetus should be performed after pregnancy. Hypothyroidism Hypothyroidism (CH) is caused by congenital factors that reduce the secretion of thyroid hormones, leading to growth disorders and intellectual retardation in babies. Signs of illness in newborns: Main symptoms include inactivity, lack of crying, poor response, love of sleeping, and low muscle tone. In addition, there are often difficulties in feeding, abdominal distension, constipation, prolonged physiological jaundice, and low body temperature. After 3 months, the following special facial features gradually appear: bloated face, wide eyes, flat nose bone, large and thick tongue that often extends out of the mouth, and dry hair. Special body shape: short stature, upper body larger than lower body, big head and short neck. Special standing and walking posture: lumbar protrusion, slightly bent knees, and swaying walking. Special development: The baby is late in lifting his head, sitting, walking and teething, the anterior fontanelle closes late, and the baby has intellectual disabilities. The treatment of this disease is very simple, just supplement your baby with thyroid hormone.

TIPS

1. Early treatment can prevent children from becoming disabled.

2. You must adhere to long-term treatment and cannot increase or decrease the dosage or interrupt treatment on your own.

3. There are no effective preventive measures for this disease. Therefore, early detection, early treatment and long-term persistence are very important. Link: Some regions have also added different newborn disease screening items. For example, Shanghai has added screening for congenital adrenocorticism and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is also known as adrenogenital syndrome or adrenal perversion. It is mainly due to defects in the enzymes necessary for the biosynthesis of adrenal cortical hormones, resulting in abnormal synthesis of corticosteroids. Therefore, clinically, there are varying degrees of adrenal cortical hypofunction, accompanied by masculinization in girls and precocious puberty in boys. In addition, there may be various syndromes such as hyponatremia or hypertension. Hydrocortisone or prednisone should be used as early as possible for treatment; lifelong medication or surgical treatment should be continued. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency is an inherited metabolic defect that is X-linked and incompletely dominant, with males being more likely to develop the disease than females. Because there are many variants of G6PD deficiency,

In fact, we all know the method of collecting heel blood from newborns. Mild cases may not have any symptoms, while severe cases may manifest as congenital non-spherocytic hemolytic anemia. It is usually manifested by taking certain drugs, broad beans or inducing acute hemolysis after infection, and severe cases can be life-threatening. The key to this disease is prevention. Confirmed patients should then refrain from eating broad beans and taking certain medications.