Premature babies need our help. 4

Jaundice of preterm infants is observed in almost every child who was born earlier than the term. It is a result of an underdeveloped enzyme system that is incapable of coping with a large amount of bilirubin (yellow pigment). Evil bilirubin can lead to complications in baby's liver, so the treatment has to be quick and effective. The purpose of our project is to help doctors of the Kherson City Clinical Hospital A.S. Luchansky to save babies from jaundice in the department of post-intensive care and nursing of the newborn.

Jaundice during the neonatal period is still an actual problem of neonatology. One of the most frequent metabolic disorders detected in the newborn period is an increase in serum bilirubin concentration, accompanied by jaundice. The condition occurs in about half of the term and most preterm infants. Pathological factors that increase the potential danger of bilirubin include conditions that are especially often observed in premature infants: morphofunctional immaturity, anemia, severe infection, perinatal brain damage, hypothermia, hypoalbuminemia, and acidosis. Previously, glucose intravenously, choleretic preparations, ascorbic acid, and other drugs were used to eliminate excess bilirubin. But such treatment was found to be inadequate. Now there are new, non-pharmacological methods, in which jaundice of newborns is treated more effectively and at the same time more safely.

Phototherapy (light treatment) is an effective treatment of jaundice in children using a lamp that reduces the amount of dangerous pigment in the blood quickly and painlessly (the course of therapy includes several stages and lasts an average of 96 hours). Under the influence of the light of a special ultraviolet lamp, bilirubin is transformed into a non-hazardous derivative – lumirubin, which naturally leaves the body through the excretory system.

It is necessary to purchase a modern phototherapy lamp for the department of post-intensive care and nursing of the newborn of Kherson City Clinical Hospital A.S. Luchansky so that its' small patients could have a chance for painless treatment of malignant bilirubin!