Question
Recently, a friend’s child has shown symptoms such as decreased appetite, upper abdominal bloating, nausea, vomiting, fever, abdominal pain, and skin itching, and the hospital diagnosis was jaundice. What types of jaundice are there, and what are the differences between them?
Answer
Jaundice is a common symptom and sign, caused by the disorder of bilirubin metabolism. It mainly falls into three types: hemolytic jaundice, hepatocellular jaundice, and cholestatic jaundice. Hemolytic jaundice is usually caused by hemolytic anemia, hepatocellular jaundice may be due to liver dysfunction or damage, while cholestatic jaundice can be caused by bile duct obstruction. These different types of jaundice differ in pathogenesis and clinical manifestations, so they need to be distinguished in diagnosis and treatment.