The Efficacy of the In-House Light-Emitting Diode Phototherapy Equipment Compare to Conventional Phototherapy Equipment on the Treatment of Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia
Ratthakhet Ek-isariyaphorn MD*, Rattikarn Maneenut RN*, Jiraporn Kardreunkaew RN*, Waleerat Khobkhun RN*, Sunaree Saenphrom RN*
Affiliation : * Department of Pediatrics, Mae Sot Hospital, Tak, Thailand
Background : From the empirical study, light-emitting diode (LED) phototherapy is effective for treatment of neonatal
hyperbilirubinemia. However, commercial LED phototherapy equipment is still expensive. Thus, in-house LED phototherapy
equipment has been developed.
Objective : To compare efficacy between in-house LED to conventional phototherapy equipment in the treatment of neonatal
hyperbilirubinemia at Mae Sot Hospital.
Material and Method: This was a randomized controlled trial. Fifty newborns with hyperbilirubinemia were allocated to
LED phototherapy group and conventional group. Baseline characteristics were compared and analyzed by descriptive
statistics, exact probability and student t-test, and change in serum bilirubin level was analyzed by multilevel regression
analysis.
Results : There were 25 patients in each of the two groups. The median duration of phototherapy in LED group was 25 hours,
whereas the conventional group required 48 hours (p<0.001) and the average serum bilirubin level in LED group decreased
more rapidly than in conventional group (p = 0.007). Hyperthermia were found in 22 infants from conventional group (88%)
compared to 11 infants from LED group (44%) (p = 0.002).
Conclusion : In-house LED phototherapy equipment is more effective than conventional phototherapy in the reduction of
serum bilirubin level and occurrence of hyperthermia during treatment is less.
Keywords : Light-emitting diode, Conventional phototherapy, Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia
