Research Article

Utility of Direct Coomb’s Test in a Tertiary Care Nursery

Mussab Ahmed, Zahid Anwar, Rafia Gul, Tahreem Munir, Furqan Saleem, Saima Pirzada

Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal · Vol. 73, No. 3 · Published June 15, 2023 · DOI: 10.51253/pafmj.v73i3.7640

iD ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0605-7089 · View All Publications by Dr. Rafia Gul

In Brief

Newborns with jaundice are often given a direct Coomb’s test, which looks for antibodies from the mother attached to the baby’s red blood cells. This study asked why some babies test positive and how many of them actually need treatment.

Key Points

• A cross-sectional study of 989 newborns of mothers with blood group O or Rh-negative status, at Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, from November 2019 to October 2020.
• ABO mismatch occurred in 452 babies (45.7%) and Rh mismatch in 123 (12.4%). Fifty-eight babies (about 6%) tested positive, and 44 of them (about 76%) needed treatment.
• Most of the treated babies received standard phototherapy, four received intensive phototherapy, and none needed an exchange transfusion.
• ABO incompatibility was the most common cause of a positive test, and early phototherapy controlled the rise in bilirubin in most babies, so few needed aggressive treatment.

ABO MismatchDirect Coomb’s TestNeonatal JaundiceRh Mismatch

Published in the Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal, Vol. 73, No. 3 (June 2023), Original Articles. PDF shared by the authors.