Comparative outcome of overhead and total body phototherapy for treatment of severe neonatal jaundice in Nigeria

Background: In Nigeria, neonatal jaundice is commonly treated by overhead phototherapy with neonates lying supine, often with effective exposure of less than one half of the body surface. Total body exposure in phototherapy has been in use for less than 2 years in Nigeria, but is available in only five neonatal centres. Aim: To compare the effectiveness of total body exposure (TBPE) with the conventional partial exposure (COPT) for treatment of hyperbilirubinaemia. Methods: Eleven datasets from 10 neonatal units across Nigeria were retrieved. They included neonates with severe hyperbilirubinaemia treated with TBPE using the Firefly (R) device (MTTS Asia) as a test group. The remainder of the patients, the controls, were treated with COPT. Any requirement for exchange blood transfusion (EBT) in either group was documented. Total serum bilirubin (TSB) >213.8 mu mol/L (12.5 mg/dL) was treated as severe hyperbilirubinaemia. The efficiency of the intervention was determined according to the time taken for a severe case to be downgraded to mild at <= 213.8 mu mol/L. Results: A total of 486 patients were studied, 343 controls and 143 cases. Mean (SD) postnatal age was 6 days (0.7) for cases and 5 (0.9) for controls, for gestational age (GA) in completed weeks was 36 (0.5) for cases and 37 (0.7) for controls and for birthweight was 2.7 kg (0.25) for cases and 2.7 (0.22) for controls. Mean (SD) pre-intervention TSB was 299.3 (35.7) mu mol/L for cases and 327.3 (13.9) for controls. Severity downgrade day was Day 2 (0.4) for cases and Day 5 (1.1) for controls. Overall relative EBT rate was 6% for cases and 55% for controls (p= 0.0001), and early preterm relative EBT rate was 0% for cases and 68% for controls (p < 0.01). Conclusion: TBPE was quicker and safer for reduction of hyperbilirubinaemia and patients rarely required EBT. TBPE is recommended for rapid reduction of serum bilirubin levels and the reduction of treatment costs, morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries.