What are the symptoms of mild jaundice

Jaundice is a common disease that is mainly seen in infants and young children, and most cases occur in newborns. This disease can threaten the life and health of newborns because jaundice can cause liver and gallbladder function to decline, leading to yellowing of the skin, etc. The symptoms of jaundice are different for almost every patient. Let’s take a look at the symptoms of mild jaundice.

(1) Fever: Jaundice accompanied by fever is often seen in acute cholangitis, and is also accompanied by chills. Liver abscess, sepsis, and leptospirosis all cause moderate or even high fever; acute viral hepatitis or acute hemolysis often causes fever first, followed by jaundice.

(2) Abdominal pain: Jaundice accompanied by severe colic or pain in the upper abdomen is often seen in patients with biliary stones, biliary ascariasis or liver abscess, primary liver cancer, etc. Viral hepatitis often presents with persistent distension and dull pain in the right upper abdomen; liver abscess or liver cancer may also present with dull pain or distension in the upper abdomen or right upper abdomen.

(3) Skin itching: Jaundice accompanied by skin itching is often seen in jaundice caused by intrahepatic or extrahepatic bile duct obstruction (cholestasis), such as common bile duct stones, cancer or primary biliary cirrhosis, recurrent jaundice during pregnancy, etc. Some patients with hepatocellular jaundice may also experience skin itching, while hemolytic jaundice often does not cause skin itching.

(4) Color of urine and feces: In obstructive jaundice, the urine is as dark as strong tea, while the feces may become lighter in color. When the bile duct is completely blocked, the feces are clay-colored. In patients with hemolytic jaundice, the urine is soy sauce-colored and the stool color is also darker; in patients with hepatocellular jaundice, the urine color is slightly darker and the stool color is light yellow.

(5) Loss of appetite, upper abdominal distension, nausea and vomiting: Patients with viral hepatitis often experience indigestion symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, upper abdominal distension, etc. before the onset of jaundice. Most patients also dislike greasy food. People who have long been averse to greasy food or experience right upper abdominal pain or colic after eating greasy food usually have chronic gallbladder disease. Elderly patients with jaundice accompanied by indigestion symptoms such as loss of appetite should consider cancer, which is often accompanied by progressive weight loss and even severe malnutrition.

(6) Gastrointestinal bleeding: When jaundice is accompanied by gastrointestinal bleeding, it is often seen in cirrhosis, liver cancer, common bile duct cancer, ampullary cancer or severe hepatitis.