A newborn that spits up green is often a serious sign that often indicates the newborn has intestinal blockage like malrotation or volvulus, which requires immediate emergency medical attention.
A baby throwing up green vomit signals bile backup from the baby's small intestine, which potentially could lead to organ damage or even death if it's left untreated.
If your baby is vomiting green bilious fluid, always urgent care right away by getting to the emergency room, even if the baby seems fine otherwise as it can be life threatening.
Vomit which contains bile causes green or yellow vomit, and the bile is a digestive fluid from the liver.
Blockage can cause green vomit, which means the bile cannot move past the small intestine, which indicates a serious blockage or twist (volvulus) in the bowel.
Untreated bowel obstructions in anybody including babies can cause bowel tissue death, which requires major surgery to fix, and can potentially lead to short gut syndrome or even death.
You should always seek medical attention right away when there's any green vomit in a baby, especially if the green vomit is forceful or projectile.
Or if the baby shows other signs like abdominal swelling, refusing to feed, lethargy, dehydration or fever.
If you can't get to the hospital on your own, call 911 to get an ambulance and don't wait for the green vomit to pass and don't wait to see if it improves as early treatment is critical.
Throwing up green bile in anyone including baby's toddlers, children teens and adults is an emergency, especially if it does not stop or gets worse.
Throwing up green bile can be a sign of dehydration or a blockage.
A single instance of throwing up green bile on an empty stomach is not always serious, but throwing up repeatedly with green vomit, especially with other symptoms like severe abdominal pain signals a potentially serious health issue like an intestinal blockage or even severe bile reflux, which requires immediate medical attention and medical evaluation.
If it's your first time ever vomiting green bile, you should go to the ER right away as it can indicate a bowel blockage or other urgent issues.
Especially if the green bile vomit is accompanied by fever and or severe abdominal pain, or you have any signs of dehydration like dark urine, dizziness, inability to keep fluids down or confusion, high fever, severe headache or if you're also vomiting blood and or fecal matter.
In infants and young children, vomiting green bile or bilious green vomit is often a sign of a serious blockage like volvulus or malrotation, which requires urgent care.
Or if you vomit green bile repeatedly for longer than 24 hours to 48 hours or you're unable to keep any fluids down or you have experience weight loss since becoming sick you should seek medical attention or even go to urgent care.
The green bile that you're vomiting is a digestive fluid from your liver.
And if your stomach is empty from frequent vomiting, you'll begin to bring up bile.
Although persistent green vomit can mean that the bile is backing up as a result of a blockage or severe reflux.
Other most concerning vomit colors are red, black, or resembling coffee grounds, as these often signal bleeding in the upper digestive tract and require immediate medical attention, potentially indicating ulcers, tears, or other serious issues, though green vomit with bile can also signal blockages needing prompt care.
Red vomit, with fresh blood, suggests you have tears like a Mallory Weiss tear or other bleeding.
Black Vomit/ Coffee grounds are digested blood, often from higher GI bleeds, ulcers or liver problems.
Green vomit though can indicate bile reflux or a bowel blockage, especially with severe pain and so you should seek medical attention to be safe.