The efficacy of the in-house light-emitting diode phototherapy equipment compare to conventional phototherapy equipment on the treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.

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.