What are the symptoms of pathological jaundice in children? Characteristics of pathological jaundice

Newborn jaundice is an extremely common symptom, and many parents do not pay much attention to the symptoms of newborn jaundice. If a child changes from physiological jaundice to pathological jaundice, the consequences will be much more serious. Therefore, parents should closely observe their children's performance when they have jaundice.

Characteristics of pathological jaundice

First of all, pathological jaundice of newborns usually appears within 24 hours after birth and quickly becomes serious. If you find that your baby's skin is orange-yellow, his eyes are white, and his palms and soles are obviously yellow at this time, you should pay attention to it in time. Secondly, pathological jaundice usually lasts for more than a week and has a tendency to increase. If the course of the disease lasts for more than a week, you should also pay attention. Thirdly, in addition to the typical symptoms of yellowing of the skin, the child's urine will also turn yellow, and in severe cases, the diaper can even be dyed yellow, and the child's stool will be white. If you find the above two points, you should also go to the hospital for relevant examinations in time.

Finally, the jaundice of newborns not only lasts for a long time and will not subside, but also recurs even if the condition is slightly relieved, while physiological jaundice generally will not recur after a few hours. This should also be noted. In short, although the symptoms of neonatal pathological jaundice are extremely similar to those of physiological jaundice, some differences can be found through careful distinction and careful observation. This requires our parents to pay more attention to the child's physical symptoms when taking care of the newborn, and seek medical attention in time if any suspicious or abnormal conditions are found, so as not to delay the treatment of the disease and affect the child's growth.

Pathological jaundice

If jaundice is caused by pathological factors, it is called "pathological jaundice". These pathological factors include:

Neonatal blood diseases, such as ABO blood type incompatibility (Note 1), Rh blood type incompatibility, congenital hemolytic disease, etc., lead to the destruction of red blood cells and increase bilirubin metabolism.

2. Liver diseases such as congenital biliary atresia, congenital hepatitis, etc., which lead to the inability to excrete bilirubin.

3. Neonatal infection leads to red blood cell destruction and decreased liver function.

4. The birth process causes congestion on the newborn's scalp, and the red blood cells in the congestion are destroyed to produce bilirubin. The jaundice index of pathological jaundice is usually greater than 15. It not only requires treatment, but also may lead to serious consequences if not paid attention to. B. Symptoms of pathological jaundice: Possible symptoms of pathological jaundice include: vomiting, pale skin, poor vitality, loss of appetite, abdominal distension, diarrhea, fever, urine becomes dark tea color, stool color becomes white, etc. If any of the above situations occur, you need to seek medical attention immediately. If the stool color becomes grayish white, and the urine becomes dark tea color, it may be a congenital biliary disease, which is sometimes serious enough to require a liver transplant or even life-threatening. In addition, jaundice may also damage the central nervous system of the brain, harm intelligence, cause cerebral palsy, hearing loss, and even threaten life.

Symptoms of neonatal pathological jaundice

1. Color change:

Yellow skin: The skin is golden or orange, and the face, body, sclera (the white part of the eyes), palms, and soles of the feet are all yellow. Yellowing is the most powerful symptom of jaundice.

Stool color: Urine color becomes darker, dark yellow, brown, or even soy sauce color, while stool color becomes lighter, white or white clay color.

2. Poor spirit: abnormal body temperature (the normal body temperature of a newborn is similar to that of an adult, both around 36.7~37℃), difficulty in feeding, poor appetite (even groaning when not feeding), poor spirit (drowsiness, dull eyes), crying, and no weight gain.

3. Serum bilirubin: The neonatal jaundice index is >12mg/dl for full-term infants and >15mg/dl for premature infants. It increases by 5mg/dl every day.

Full-term infants are those whose gestational age is between 37 weeks and 42 weeks.

Symptoms and characteristics of neonatal pathological jaundice

We usually use three words to summarize the characteristics of pathological jaundice symptoms: early, long, and severe.

1. Early: Pathological jaundice appears earlier than physiological jaundice. Pathological jaundice usually appears within 24 hours.

2. Long: The duration of pathological jaundice is long, generally more than 2 weeks for full-term infants and more than 4 weeks for premature infants.

3. Severe: The symptoms of jaundice are more serious.

Notice

It should be noted that physiological jaundice may also turn into pathological jaundice.

Premature babies are those born before 37 weeks of gestation.

4. Some neonatal pathological jaundice is accompanied by anemia or other symptoms.

5. The condition will recur, and the baby’s jaundice may reappear after it subsides.