Incidence and risk factors of acute bilirubin encephalopathy in neonates with hyperbilirubinemia presenting at secondary care hospital

Background & Objectives: In neonates, hyperbilirubinemia is the most common problem. Acute bilirubin encephalopathy is serious problem in less developed nations and their incidence varies with geographical location. Our objective was to find out the incidence and risk factors of acute bilirubin encephalopathy in neonates with hyperbilirubinemia

Methods: This was a prospective cross sectional study carried out at the department of pediatrics, THQ Hospital, Pindigheb in Punjab from October 2020 to October 2021. The inclusion criterion for our study was all the neonates of both the gender diagnosed with hyperbilirubinemia. Blood samples were collected from all the neonates and were sent to hospital laboratory for total serum bilirubin (TSB) measurement. The risk factors like delivery place, Rh/ABO incompatibility and preterm delivery were recorded. SPSS version 23 was used to input and analyze all of the data.

Results: In this study, a total of 350 neonates were included. The prevalence of acute bilirubin encephalopathy in our study was 16% (n=56). Seven (12.5%) neonates with acute bilirubin encephalopathy were preterm which was the major significant risk factor for acute bilirubin encephalopathy in hyperbilirubinemia neonates (p<0.05). The other risk factors such as hospital delivery, birth weight, Rh and ABO incompatibility were also observed but were non-significant (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Our study observed 16% prevalence of acute bilirubin encephalopathy in neonates with hyperbilirubinemia. The preterm birth was a significant risk factor associated with the acute bilirubin encephalopathy in neonates with hyperbilirubinemia.