Blood group incompatibility

ABSTRACT

A hospital based prospective observational study was carried to know the distribution of various blood group in pregnant female population and babies delivered to them in this area to assess incidence of Rhesus and ABO incompatibility, its consequences and various treatment method required. A hospital based prospective !observational study. The study was conducted from 1st June 2004 to 30 May 2005 at Hyderabad. All live newborn babies admitted under author's care were included in this study All the new born babies admitted for various reasons under author care and the mothers were tested for their blood group. Those with blood group mismatch were further investigated according to their clinical situation. Blood group incompatibility was cause of jaundice in 7.7% of neonates with 5% having ABO and 2.7 Rhesus incompatibility as cause of jaundice. 6% of these babies were full term and 1.7% were preterm. The Kernicterus occurred only in 0.2% of total and 7.4% of those with Rhesus incompatibility. Routine determination of blood group of mothers and babies born to them and serial determination of bilirubin can prevent the dangerous consequences of blood group incompatibility. Exchange transfusion for Rh-incompatibility and phototherapy for ABO incompatibility are best option available in our setup