Jaundice In Newborns (Causes & Treatments)

Jaundice In Newborns (Causes & Treatments). Baby jaundice is the yellowing of tissues and skin caused by a buildup of bilirubin, produced by red blood cells and processed in the liver. The newborn jaundice levels are commonly subnormal. If bilirubin levels reach a certain point, the infant baby’s skin and the whites of his eyes will take on a yellow tint.

Jaundice usually develops within 24 hours after birth. It’s common in full-term infants exposed to more bilirubin than they can process because their liver is immature. Jaundice disappears as the infant’s liver matures and becomes better at getting rid of bilirubin. This often takes about eight weeks.

Jaundice is inevitable for newborn babies. It most commonly begins between the second and third day after birth, but it can appear anytime during the first month. Most newborns have jaundice in the first week of life. Read on – Jaundice In Newborns (Causes & Treatments):

The causes of Jaundice in Newborns are

1. Physiologic Jaundice:

Physiologic jaundice is an average increase in bilirubin levels in healthy full-term infants. The reason for this increase is related to the immaturity of the liver, particularly its inability to conjugate (attach) bilirubin molecules to albumin. This causes the bilirubin level to be elevated.

2. Bilirubin Enzyme Deficiency:

This condition occurs in infants with a genetic enzyme defect that alters how bilirubin is conjugated. This results in an elevation of the bilirubin level, which then turns yellow with jaundice once it reaches a certain point.

First-degree relative syndromes (such as familial hyperbilirubinemia and Gilbert syndrome) occur when the mutation on one chromosome affects either how much bilirubin can be excreted or it can affect how well the body removes bilirubin by conjugating (attaching) to albumin and other substances. Second-degree relative syndromes are when the mutation occurs on both chromosomes.

3. Newborn jaundice associated with Rh disease:

Rh disease affects red blood cells and produces a lack of antibodies that clear them. The level of antibodies to prevent infection is called anti-D. If you do not have enough anti-D, the infant will have jaundice.

4. Neonatal jaundice due to other causes:

Chloride-dependent bilirubin-conjugating enzymatic deficiency is the cause of classic jaundice in newborns due to an inability of the liver enzyme glucuronyl transferase to convert bilirubin into biliverdin and bile pigment, which is responsible for most of the yellowing.

This disorder should be present at birth, although it can develop later in life, and there are many forms of it. Other causes of newborn jaundice include hypothyroidism, meconium aspiration syndrome, and metabolic acidosis.

Here are treatments for Jaundice In Newborns

1. Phototherapy:

The purpose of phototherapy is to use light to treat neonatal jaundice and help eliminate bilirubin from a newborn’s system. The light changes bilirubin into a form that will be eliminated from the body through the stool, urine, and bile into the gut, which can then be destroyed in stools and urine.

This can cause dehydration, so healthcare providers need to monitor the number of fluids given to babies undergoing phototherapy.

This treatment typically requires 20-30 minutes of light exposure thrice daily, with an additional treatment at night sometimes added. Newborns can be treated in the hospital or at a childcare center. It is recommended that newborns be treated as soon as possible.

2. Drug Therapy:

The drug used for neonatal jaundice to treat bilirubin levels is usually photochemotherapy, which consists of the oral administration of drugs that affect enzymes in the liver and other cells that carry out this process. It usually causes nausea and vomiting from its side effects, so it may need to be given with supportive therapy (such as antiemetics).

3. Exchange Transfusion:

Exchange transfusions are done for infants with severe hyperbilirubinemia (high bilirubin levels). Sometimes, newborns with very high bilirubin levels need an exchange transfusion. This is when blood is removed from a baby’s body and replaced with new blood that does not contain jaundice.

The blood drawn will be processed to remove bilirubin and then given to the infant. This requires a brief period of hospitalization, usually on an inpatient basis for two or three days. During the exchange transfusion, the healthcare provider will also start phototherapy or drug therapy to treat elevated bilirubin levels after the exchange.

If the newborn’s condition worsens, hospitalization will be extended, and the baby may need a blood transfusion and an exchange transfusion.

4. Surgery:

A surgeon removes a portion or all of your baby’s gallbladder during this operation. In rare cases, if the jaundice is caused by an obstruction of bile flow that results in severe cholestasis (a chronic condition marked by malfunctioning bile flow from the liver), surgical removal of the gallbladder may be required. Jaundice can also occur with other types of blockage that restrict bile flow, and surgery can treat those.

5. Genetic Determinants:

Three genetic determinants contribute to whether a baby will develop jaundice and to how severe jaundice will be. These three genetic determinants include the biochemical defect in bilirubin metabolism, the increased sensitivity or resistance of the baby’s liver to urobilinogen, and a deficiency in albumin.

The biochemical defect will alter the way bilirubin is conjugated. However, it will significantly affect bilirubin level only when the baby has other defects in proteins that transport bilirubin and urobilinogen.

The increased sensitivity of the liver or resistance to urobilinogen will be more influential in premature babies, which is why it is more common in preterm infants than in full-term babies.

6. Infant Tolerance:

When determining the tolerance of an infant to jaundice, it is essential to consider the infant’s health before jaundice occurs. A baby with a healthy immune system and good kidney function will handle jaundice better than an infant with underlying conditions such as prematurity and chronic disease.

Jaundice in preterm babies is more likely to cause complications than in full-term babies. Even if a newborn’s jaundice is successfully treated, some damage that was not obvious at first may have already occurred. An infant born with a healthy immune system will be able to tolerate higher levels of bilirubin than one who is sick or preterm.

Another factor affecting an infant’s tolerance to jaundice is the amount of bilirubin in the blood. A high level of bilirubin does not mean that the baby will have complications from jaundice, but it does increase the risk for complications.

Jaundice In Newborns (Causes & Treatments) – Conclusion

Jaundice is mainly with different types of jaundice. Neonatal and cholestatic jaundice are the two most common types of neonatal jaundice. They have other symptoms, causes, treatments, and cures.

Precocious bilirubin, ketonuria, and pyruvate kinase deficiency are some types of postnatal jaundice. There are many ways to treat neonatal and postnatal jaundices. In some diseases, medicine can be taken as a pill or injection. Some other causes also require surgery to get rid of them.