Symptoms of worsening neonatal jaundice

Neonatal jaundice is a very common disease in newborns. Because newborns live in the mother's amniotic fluid before birth, the environment is relatively humid, and after birth, the external environment is relatively dry. Children will naturally build a protective film for themselves on the outer layer of the skin, but sometimes this protective film will cause neonatal jaundice. So what are the symptoms of worsening neonatal jaundice?

1. The symptoms of physiological neonatal jaundice are:

Newborns will develop yellowing of the skin, whites of the eyes and oral mucosa on the 2nd to 3rd day after birth, with varying degrees of severity. It is usually more obvious on the face and chest, but the palms and soles of the feet are not yellow. It is most obvious on the 4th to 6th day, disappears on the 10th to 14th day after birth in full-term infants, and may last until the 3rd week in premature infants. During this period, the child was in general good condition and showed no other discomfort.

It is normal for newborns to have physiological jaundice, but parents should also pay close attention. Generally speaking, physiological jaundice is relatively mild, the bilirubin concentration in the blood is low, and it will not affect children's intelligence.

2. Symptoms of pathological jaundice are:

Jaundice in children may occur within 24 hours after birth, or it may persist, or jaundice may reappear after it subsides, or jaundice may progressively worsen.

Pathological neonatal jaundice can also cause manifestations of other diseases, such as kernicterus. When it occurs, the child's jaundice becomes significantly worse, and begins to show symptoms of drowsiness, weakness or choking when sucking milk, and decreased muscle tone. If not treated promptly, serious symptoms such as groaning, screaming, convulsions, and respiratory failure may follow. Some children die from respiratory failure, and those who survive often have sequelae such as intellectual disabilities and cerebral palsy.

3. Severe jaundice can cause bilirubin encephalopathy (kernicterus), and patients will show serious symptoms such as drowsiness, convulsions, and even opisthotonos on the basis of jaundice. Excessive bilirubin can also cause serious damage to liver function.

Suggestions: The treatment of jaundice should focus on the cause. If it is obvious obstructive jaundice, timely surgery is recommended to relieve the obstruction.

4. This is caused by the deposition of bilirubin in the body on the surface of the skin, which is medically known as neonatal jaundice. On the other hand, the immature liver function of newborns limits bilirubin metabolism, which causes jaundice in newborns for a period of time. Jaundice usually begins to appear in the newborn 2-3 days after birth, is at its yellowest 4-6 days after birth, and gradually subsides after 7-10 days.