Efficacy of Circumferential Intensive Phototherapy in Treating Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was aimed at developing a circumferential phototherapy unit using 3M reflective materials in the double-sided phototherapy unit and investigating its efficacy in treating neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. STUDY DESIGN: Forty-two infants with neonatal hyperbilirubinemia were selected from our hospital; they were randomly divided into control (n = 21) and experimental groups (n = 21). The experimental group was treated with the circumferential phototherapy unit, while the control group was treated with an ordinary phototherapy unit. RESULTS: No significant differences were noted between the two groups in the levels of transcutaneous bilirubin before phototherapy (p > 0.05). After 12 hours of phototherapy, the value of transcutaneous bilirubin decreased significantly in the experimental group compared with that of the control group (p < 0.05). Additionally, the two groups did not exhibit any significant difference in the side effects (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that the circumferential phototherapy unit was more effective than the ordinary phototherapy unit in treating neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. KEY POINTS: · A circumferential phototherapy unit was developed using 3M reflective materials.. · The circumferential phototherapy unit was more effective than the ordinary.. · The two groups did not exhibit any significant difference in the side effects..