neonatal cholestasis...HELP!!

[hope4thebest]

I have a 9 day old infant who was diagnosed with neonatal cholestasis, I just research what it is ( short version there is an accumilation of bilirubin in the body)

However I cannot find what I should be assessing in the pt, which leads to my problem :

what should I be assessing in the infant with neonatal cholestasis?

-feeding pattern ; how much is the baby eating (frequency,duration)

-elimination (color of the stool, urine)

any help would be GREATLY appreciated..

thanks

[Jolie, BSN]

Jaundice which persists beyone the first 2 weeks of life warrants a diagnostic work-up. Biliary atresia, a life-threatening condition which requires surgical treatment is a possible cause of neonatal cholestasis.

Try "googling" neonatal cholestasis for a discussion of the differential diagnosis and treatment options.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

here are a couple of articles on cholestasis. once you know what conditions might be the cause of the cholestasis then your assessment would want to focus on being watchful for the signs and symptoms of any of those diseases. in the end, you must always know what is normal in a newborn so that you can recognize what is abnormal. we do not have to be medical diagnosticians, but we do need to recognize what abnormal behavior or physical symptoms the baby is displaying.

http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic383.htm - cholestasis

http://gastroresource.com/gitextbook/en/chapter15/15-9.htm - approach to the jaundiced neonate

http://www3.vghtc.gov.tw:8082/ped/teaching/newborn/neonatal%20cholestasis/index.htm - a case study of neonatal cholestasis. this is the index page. it is actually a slide show.