Retrospective evaluation of the effectiveness of bilirubin control at the 6TH and 12th postnatal hours to prevent the development of high jaundice values in newborn

Objective: It was aimed to retrospectively evaluate the effectiveness of bilirubin control at the 6th and 12th postnatal hour in babies with blood group incompatibility in order to prevent the development of high jaundice values in the newborn. Material and method: Those who were born at Adıyaman University Training and Research Hospital between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022 and were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for inpatient treatment because the serum total bilirubin value at the postnatal 6th or postnatal 12th hour was ≥ 5 mg/dl. babies were taken. Patient data were obtained retrospectively from the patient file, patient epicrisis and NICU database. Results: None of the 206 patients in total had encephalopathy clinic at admission. All patients received phototherapy treatment. Four of the patients were given IVIG treatment along with phototherapy treatment. There were no patients who underwent exchange transfusion. Neurological examination of all babies was normal before discharge. The number of patients with ABO blood incompatibility between mother and baby was 136 (66%), the number of patients with Rh incompatibility was 43 (21%), and the number of patients with both ABO and Rh incompatibility was 12 (6%). The number of patients with unknown cause of jaundice was 15 (7%). The number of patients with admission bilirubin level ≥ 5 mg/dl at the 6th postnatal hour was 98 (47.5%), and the number of patients with admission bilirubin level ≥ 5 mg/dl at the 12th hour was 108 (52.5%). The average admission bilirubin level of the patients at the 6th hour was 7.03 ± 1,5 mg/dl, the average admission bilirubin level at the 12th hour was 7.76 ± 1,6 mg/dl, and the total admission bilirubin average was 7.43 ± 1,6 mg/dl. The total hospital stay of the patients was 2.91 ± 1,3 days, and the duration of phototherapy was 2.46 ± 1 days. Conclusion: Babies who need to be treated can be detected early with the total bilirubin value measured at the 6th and/or 12th postnatal hour. With early treatment, blood exchange and the toxic effects of bilirubin on the central nervous system can be prevented. Key words: Neonatal jaundice, postnatal 6th or 12th hour, total serum bilirubin.