Background: Patients with gastroschisis and prolonged total (or partial) parenteral nutrition (PN) commonly develop direct hyperbilirubinemia (DH).
Objective: To quantify the prevalence and severity of DH in newborns with gastroschisis and characterize the diagnostic work-up for DH in this patient population.
Design/methods: Retrospective chart review of patients born with gastroschisis between 2005 and 2015 for the first 6 months of life.
Results: 29 patients were identified with gastroschisis. Mean gestational age and birthweight were 36.4 (± 1.8) weeks and 2.5 (± 0.6) kg. 41% were treated with primary reduction versus staged closure. Peak total and direct bilirubin (DB) levels were 10.17 ± 6.21 mg/dL and 5.58 ± 3.94 mg/dL, respectively. 23 patients (79.3%) were diagnosed with DH and 78.2% underwent additional work-up for hyperbilirubinemia consisting of imaging and laboratory studies, none of which revealed a cause for DH other than the presumed PN-associated cholestasis. In all patients, DB began to decline within 1-10 days of initiation of enteral feeds.
Conclusion(s): DH is common in patients with gastroschisis and is unlikely to be associated with pathology aside from PN. Additional work-up may lead to unnecessary resource utilization.
Levels of evidence: Case series with no comparison group, Level IV.
Keywords: Cholestasis; Direct hyperbilirubinemia; Gastroschisis; Outcomes; Resource utilization.