Blood Glucose Level Status in Low Birth Weight (LBW) Neonates

Abstract

Introduction: LBW may occur when an infant is born tooprompt. According to severity, newborns can becategorized into three groups, such as very low birthweight baby (<1.5kg), extremely low birth weight baby(<1kg) & low birth weight baby (<2.5kg). Blood glucoselevels are lowermost in the first 2-3 hours after birth andsteadily rise as the enzyme systems for glycogenbreakdown and glucose synthesis begin to operateHypoglycaemia could be a widespread problem causingincreased morbidity and mortality. Methods andmaterials: A prospective study was carried out in theDepartment of Paediatrics, Rajshahi Medical CollegeHospital (RMCH), Rajshahi, Bangladesh from January2018 to June 2018. A total of 110 neonates with properdocumentation were confirmed as the study population.Result: Out of sixty-seven normal birth weight neonates (n=67), two (2,2.98%) and three(3,4.5%) neonates were found hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic respectively & the rest sixtytwo (62,92.5%) were normoglycemic and out of forty-three low birth weight baby (n=43),about one-fourth (11,25.6%) were hypoglycemic, one (1,2.3%) was hyperglycemic & themajority of neonates (31,72.1%) were normoglycemic. The mean normoglycemic,hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic levels were 4.74±0.05, 1.84±0.03 and 8.07± 0.8respectively and the relationship of glycemic status with birth weight was significant(p=0.046). Conclusion: The incidence of hypoglycemia is more evident in low birth weight neonates in comparison to normal birth weight neonates.The most common symptom was therefusal of feeding followed by cyanosis, limpness & jitteriness. The birth weight of neonatesshowed a significant correlation with their glycemic status.