BiLirubin Decrease Under Phototherapy Exposure in the Preterm Newborn in Incubator

Overview

Phototherapy is routinely used in neonatal intensive care units for the treatment of jaundice. Guidelines focus mainly on bilirubin serum levels to start the phototherapy. Only few data are available about clinical management of phototherapy devices and subsequently the impact on bilirubin serum decrease. Especially there are no strong recommendations about phototherapy duration, irradiance measurements, incubator temperature and humidity settings. Various factors can influence irradiance and thus the preterm infant bilirubin serum decrease. This study aims at evaluating the impact of an educational program on the use and efficacy of phototherapy in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Only few data are available about clinical management of phototherapy devices for the treatment of jaundice in the preterm infant. This study is a prospective, monocentric, observational study. Preterm infant \< 35 weeks of gestation with a jaundice requiring phototherapy according to NICE guidelines can be included for the duration of the phototherapy treatment. The decrease in bilirubin serum level before and after phototherapy treatment will be measured. This decrease in bilirubin serum level will be assessed for two consecutive periods before and after an educational program on jaundice management of the preterm infant. The investigators aim at demonstrating that an educational program could improve phototherapy management and result in a higher decrease in bilirubin serum during treatment of the preterm infant with jaundice.

Conditions