Incidence of Hyperbilirubinemia in Asphyxiated Newborn in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Introduction: Our study is a single center study. Multicenter studies with larger number of cases of different geographic locations would provide additional insight regarding this study. More no of case-control studies are required with large sample size to determine the severity of serum bilirubin level with birth asphyxia particularly in term neonates. Additional newborn screening to be done in cases of prolonged high serum bilirubin level like hypothyroidism, G-6-PD deficiency, hemolytic anemia, Galactosemia so that it could have been intervened early, like hypothyroidism is a treatable cause which should be treated early to prevent developmental delay and hearing loss, similarly G-6- PD screening should be done to prevent hematuria and hemoglobinuria caused by drug. Material And Method: This prospective study was conducted in newborn unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Odisha, from August 2022 - July 2024 (2 years). All the neonates satisfying the inclusion criteria admitted to SCBMCH and SVPPGIP newborn unit were included in the study. Informed consent was taken from the parents/ guardians of all the enrolled patients for obtaining relevant history, clinical examination and performing necessary investigations. Antenatal history of mother will be collected in detail to study the relevant risk factors. The cases were then diagnosed clinically using previously established criteria for Hypoxia ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), General examination and systematic examination were done in details to establish clinical diagnosis. Result: “Incidence Of Hyperbilirubinemia In Asphyxiated Newborn In A Tertiary Care Hospital” which was an institution based prospective observational study undertaken from August, 2022 to July, 2024 in SVPPGIP and SCBMCH, Cuttack that included 80 newborns with birth asphyxia and 50 non asphyxiated neonates, satisfying the inclusion criteria. Conclusion: Birth asphyxia continues to be one of the major causes of perinatal mortality in developing nation where obstetric care and neonatal resuscitation is still in their struggling phase. Birth asphyxia is a substantial cause of unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia in newborns. Assay of total serum bilirubin and indirect serum bilirubin can be used as an easy early diagnostic marker to differentiate between babies with birth asphyxia and those without asphyxia.