What complications may neonatal jaundice cause?

What complications may neonatal jaundice cause?

Complications that may result from neonatal jaundice include sepsis, neonatal pneumonia, biliary atresia, and breast milk jaundice.

Sepsis is manifested by fever, severe toxic blood symptoms, skin rash, hepatosplenomegaly, leukocytosis, etc. It is divided into Gram-positive coccal sepsis, Gram-negative bacillary sepsis and septic sepsis. Antibiotic treatment is mainly other treatment methods.

The manifestations of pneumonia in newborns and older children are not exactly the same. Most of them are atypical, with a few coughing and no fever. The main symptoms are purple around the mouth, foam in the mouth, dyspnea, depression, less crying, no crying, and refusal to drink milk. Sometimes it is a "cold" symptom, such as nasal congestion and choking on milk. But if you observe carefully, you will find that the child breathes faster than 45 times/minute, which is 40 to 44 times/minute under normal circumstances. It may even be accompanied by dyspnea, such as the three-depression sign. The depression of the upper sternal fossa, intercostal space, and subxiphoid process during inspiration is called the three-depression sign.

Biliary atresia causes persistent jaundice after birth and grayish-white stools. In severe cases, it may lead to liver failure, ascites, esophageal varices, etc.

Children with breast milk jaundice have good nutritional development, good general condition, weight gain, yellow stool, and normal stool color. The liver and spleen are not enlarged. Children have normal liver function and no anemia. Jaundice usually appears 4-5 days after birth and gradually worsens. The elevated bilirubin can last for about 10 days, and then the jaundice gradually subsides and returns to normal levels in 3-12 weeks.