Comparison of continuous with intermittent phototherapy in the treatment of neonatal jaundice

Objective: to compare the mean decrease in serum bilirubin after intermittent versus continuous phototherapy in the treatment of jaundice neonatorum. methodology: this randomized controlled study was carried out on neonates admitted to the neonatal unit of department of paediatric medicine,ward a,lady reading hospital,peshawar from 1st october 2012 to 31st march 2013. a total of 258 patients were enrolled for the study after fulfilling the inclusion/ exclusion criteria to compare the decrease in serum bilirubin after applying continuous/intermittent phototherapy for the treatment of neonatal jaundice. results: mean age of the patients was 3.89±1.83(p=.91) days,the mean baseline bilirubin was 17.56mg/dl±1.42 (p=.36),while the mean follow-up bilirubin was 12.85mg/dl±1.65 (p=.95),and the mean difference between the baseline and follow-up bilirubin was 4.7mg/dl±1.19 (p=.32). for the group a babies,the mean difference between the baseline and follow-up bilirubin was 4.78mg/dl±1.20(p=.32). for the group b babies,the mean difference between the baseline and follow-up bilirubin was 4.63mg/dl±1.18(p=.32). the difference between the mean age on admission,mean baseline bilirubin,mean follow-up bilirubin,and the mean decrease in serum bilirubin for both the groups a and b was statistically not significant. conclusion: intermittent and continuous phototherapies were found to be equally effective. because of its additional benefits intermittent phototherapy can be adopted as a routine procedure instead of continuous phototherapy in neonatal care unites. © 2016,journal of postgraduate medical institute. all rights reserved.