Symptoms of neonatal jaundice

Neonatal jaundice in the brain is also called bilirubin encephalopathy, which is divided into five stages: first, obstructive intrahepatic cholestasis stage; second, low light reaction stage; third, enzyme production stage; fourth, spasm stage; fifth, recovery stage.

1. Different symptoms

1. Obstructive intrahepatic cholestasis stage: The main manifestations are deepening yellowing of the skin and sclera, darkening urine color, and clay-like or white clay-like stools. Since bile salts damage the auditory system, deafness and tinnitus may occur. In addition, it may also be accompanied by abnormal manifestations of the nervous system, such as nystagmus and convulsions.

2. Low light response period: If this period continues to progress, it will enter the light response period, which is characterized by the eyes not moving in the direction of gaze and being drowsy, and generally no convulsive seizures will occur.

3. Enzyme production stage: This is the early stage of bilirubin encephalopathy. There are often no obvious clinical symptoms, but the bilirubin level is high at this time, which may cause damage to the central nervous system.

4. Spasm stage: This is the acute stage of the disease, characterized by tonic contraction of skeletal muscles throughout the body, and may also cause obvious convulsions, opisthotonos, apnea, fever, laryngeal spasm, etc. If not treated in time, the condition will worsen further and may develop into a recovery stage and sequelae stage.

5. Recovery period: After active treatment, the child's nervous system function gradually returns to normal and the spastic state is relieved, but there may be varying degrees of movement disorders, intellectual developmental delay, etc.

2. Different degrees of severity

1. Mild: When the child is in the first two stages of bilirubin encephalopathy, it is usually mild, only affecting the body's non-neurological functions, and the prognosis is good.

2. Severe: If the child has entered the spasm stage and the recovery stage, it means that bilirubin has passed through the blood-brain barrier, resulting in a hyperosmotic state of bilirubin, which may cause irreversible brain damage. This is a more serious type.

Therefore, when newborns are found to have jaundice, appropriate treatment should be carried out in time to avoid worsening of the situation and increasing the difficulty of treatment. In addition, for breastfed newborns, mothers should pay attention to diet adjustment, mainly light, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, and avoid eating spicy foods to avoid affecting the baby's health.