Newborn baby boy with jaundice and acute brain complications was treated with spectacular success

The patient received blood transfusion and intensive phototherapy. Photo: Huy Hoang

Specialist II Doctor Huynh Thi Thanh, Head of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Dong Nai Children's Hospital, said: The baby boy was born full-term, weighing 2.5 kg, and a few days after birth, he showed signs of jaundice, lethargy, poor feeding, and regurgitation, so his family took him to a lower-level hospital for emergency treatment. At Dinh Quan Regional General Hospital, the baby had slow breathing, severe lack of oxygen, and a poor prognosis. He was intubated, given a balloon pump, and then transferred to Dong Nai Children's Hospital.

The child was admitted to the emergency room on August 10 in a state of breathing through a bag, lethargic, stiff, with a yellowish complexion. He was treated with anti-shock medication, intravenous fluids, vasopressors, and transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Doctors found that the baby had very severe jaundice, with a dark yellow color reaching down to the palms and soles of the feet. Test results showed that the jaundice-causing Bilirubin in the blood was very high, exceeding the threshold for brain complications. This is extremely dangerous because high levels of free Bilirubin will penetrate the blood-brain barrier, attach to brain cells, causing loss of function and necrosis of nerve cells.

The doctors actively performed phototherapy and blood exchange techniques to remove bilirubin from the blood, reducing neurotoxic complications. After 3 hours of continuous blood exchange and active phototherapy, the baby's jaundice had reduced to a safe level.

Doctors from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit examined the baby boy on the morning of August 28. Photo: Hanh Dung

Four days after being admitted to the hospital, the baby was taken off the ventilator, fed through a tube, and practiced breastfeeding. By the morning of August 28, the baby was awake, crying loudly, breathing well on his own, moving well, the jaundice had gone away, and his weight had increased to 2.8 kg. Doctors will examine the baby boy's brain, measure his hearing, and check his eyes, and it is expected that he will be discharged in a few days.

According to Dr. Thanh, blood transfusion is a high-tech technique, strictly calculated, tightly controlled, ensuring sterility. Although jaundice is common in newborns, if treated late, it will cause serious consequences such as brain damage, cerebral palsy, permanent deafness. In the acute stage, it can cause cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, and if not treated promptly, it will lead to death.

Hanh Dung

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/y-te/202508/be-trai-so-sinh-bi-vang-da-bien-chung-nao-cap-duoc-dieu-tri-thanh-cong-ngoan-muc-5f018bf/