Things to note when using light to treat neonatal jaundice

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Nguyen Thi An - Pediatrician - Neonatologist - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Ha Long International General Hospital. The doctor is very passionate about health care for children and has experience in successfully treating many cases of neonatal jaundice.
Neonatal jaundice is a condition in which the concentration of bilirubin in the blood increases too high compared to normal, penetrates the skin and connective tissues, causing jaundice and mucous membranes.

1. Babies at high risk of neonatal jaundice

Physiological jaundice appears within 1 week of birth and is usually very mild, requiring no treatment. If the jaundice is more severe than normal, it turns to a pathology, and needs medical intervention as soon as possible.
The following babies have a high risk of physiological jaundice:
Premature babies (born before 36 weeks of gestation or weighing less than 2500g). Babies are not breastfed or formula fed. The baby has a blood type that is incompatible with the mother's blood type (Rh or ABO incompatibility), leading to the formation of antibodies in the mother's blood that can destroy red blood cells in the baby's blood and cause a sudden increase in blood pressure. bilirubin levels.

2. Danger if not treated for jaundice in time

If jaundice is not treated in time, it can lead to a number of complications:
The baby is sucking poorly, refusing to breastfeed, falling asleep, crying intermittently, decreased muscle tone, decreased reflexes, or the baby may have hypertonia. muscle strength, convulsion, convulsion. Children can become comatose and die during apnea. Children may suffer from mental and neurological sequelae such as strabismus, blindness, limb paralysis, lameness, muteness, deafness or cerebral palsy. When a child has pathological jaundice, it is necessary to actively treat it, especially in the first 15 days to avoid brain damage, especially cerebral nuclei.

3. What are the current treatments for neonatal jaundice?

Currently, neonatal jaundice has 3 early treatment methods:
Phototherapy is the most effective, safe, simple and economic treatment for neonatal jaundice. Provide enough water and energy for the baby (through fluids, suckling), Albumine infusion and some drugs to increase the rate of indirect bilirubin metabolism. Blood exchange: When the child shows signs of threat of neurotoxicity, it is necessary to change the blood for the child.

4. Note when using light to treat neonatal jaundice

When is the light indicated? If after 24 hours, the baby has the following symptoms: Bruising a lot; Heavy bleeding; Serous tumor; Bone hemangioma; Big skull; Children with hemolysis. The child has no symptoms of pre-toxicity or neurotoxicity. How to choose the lights: Blue light has the best effect, followed by green light. The white light array is the least effective. Correct lighting technique: Can illuminate continuously or intermittently, illuminate one-way or two-way. Use a light to shine on the child's bare skin. Cover eyes and genitals Rotate baby to increase skin exposure to light. About the distance to project jaundice for newborns: Placing the projector at a distance of 30 - 50cm from the child will give the highest effectiveness in treating jaundice with indirect bilirubin elevation in newborns. Light exposure time for jaundiced children: Light exposure time for jaundiced children depends on the following factors:
Clinical status of the child's jaundice; Indirect and total bilirubin levels when tested. When Bilirubin levels return to normal values ​​and jaundice in children decreases, irradiation can be stopped. If irradiation is not effective and the Bilirubin concentration is high, the blood exchange method must be switched to the child.
Neonatal jaundice is not too dangerous, but if not treated properly, it can cause serious complications. Therefore, if the child has signs of jaundice, take the child to a medical facility for examination and treatment.

Pediatrics Department - Vinmec International General Hospital is the address for receiving and examining newborn diseases, including jaundice. At Vinmec, it is equipped with a safe and easy-to-implement lighting system, and babies can still breastfeed while having lights on. There are many types of projectors suitable for each jaundiced object that needs to be illuminated: crib-shaped lights (the child lies directly on top, double lights that project above and below (used in cases where positive light is required), blanket lamps , the bag is wrapped around the young person (very convenient for the mother when taking care of the baby: you can just pick it up to breastfeed and shine the light). Severe to late, with too high bilirubin in the blood, the doctor will prescribe the use of blood exchange as a last resort. reduce bilirubin in the blood and thereby also reduce bilirubin outside the organization.

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