Abstract
Background
Phototherapy is a widely used treatment for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, but the potential risks in early preterm infants are not well known. So it seems to be necessary to find out which parameters should be carefully observed during phototherapy. In this retrospective study, we analyzed mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and body temperature (BT) in preterm infants under 32 weeks of gestational age before and after phototherapy.
Methods
In this study, we analyzed the medical records of 93 early preterm infants with gestational age < 32 weeks and birth weight > 1,000 g admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, treated with and without phototherapy, at a tertiary center in Korea. Changes in MAP, HR, and BT were analyzed before and after treatment.
Results
A total of 82 patients taking phototherapy and 11 control subjects were enrolled. In the phototherapy (PT) group, phototherapy was started on the second day after birth and lasted for 71 hours. In between-group analysis, HR was higher in the PT group 24 − 3 2hours after starting phototherapy (at 24hour; Median of differences 9bpm, p = 0.001, at 32hour; Median of differences 10bpm, p = 0.001), while there was no significant difference in MAP. The rate of MAP increase was lowered and HR was increased after phototherapy, in the PT group analysis, while HR was decreased in the control group.
Conclusions
After starting phototherapy in preterm infants less than 32 weeks of gestational age, the increasing trend in MAP was lowered and the HR was increased. When phototherapy was not performed, there was no change in MAP, and HR appeared to decrease.