Vol. 7, Issue 1, Part A (2025)

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a type of neonatal encephalopathy caused by systemic hypoxemia and/or reduced cerebral blood flow resulting from an acute peripartum or intrapartum event. The main consequence of perinatal asphyxia is HIE and diagnosis of HIE requires abnormal findings on neurological examination within 48 hours after birth. Gastrointestinal damage may include injury to the bowel wall which can be mucosal or mural and causes perforation. Hepatic involvement is often found in the neonates with HIE as it is highly involved in so many metabolic processes.
Objective: To assess gastrointestinal and hepatic function in hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy neonates. 
Materials and methods: This cross sectional type of descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, Rajshahi over a period of 2years from July 2021 to June 2023. The study was conducted after obtaining ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Rajshahi Medical College and consent from the guardian of patients. Based on predefined eligibility criteria, a total number of 70 neonates with HIE stage II and III were included in this study. Data were collected and analyzed by using the ‘Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, 24-version). A chi-square test was used to see the relationship of organ dysfunctions between stage II and stage III hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy neonates.
Results: Out of 70 hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy neonates, 55.70% neonates had stage-II and 44.30% had stage-III hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Mean age of the neonates was 10.81±8.08 hours, about 68.60% were male and 31.40% were female. Out of 70 hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy neonates, 92.90% neonates had no necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and 7.10% had necrotizing enterocolitis. Hepatic involvement showed that 22.90% neonates had ALT and AST level > 100 IU/L and 77.10% neonate had ALT and AST level ≤ 100IU/L.