Intermittent versus continuous phototherapy for the treatment of neonatal non-hemolytic moderate hyperbilirubinemia in infants more than 34 weeks of gestational age: a randomized controlled trial.

UNLABELLED: Intermittent phototherapy with "12 h on and then 12 h off" schedule in comparison with continuous phototherapy for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia may save costs and decrease anxiety of parents. In this non-inferiority-randomized controlled trial, healthy late preterm (>34 weeks) and term neonates with neonatal hyperbilirubinemia under phototherapy for 8 h and total serum bilirubin (TSB) <; 18 mg/dL were randomized either into intermittent (IPT) or continuous (CPT) group. Infants in IPT group received 12 h on and 12 h off cycles of phototherapy. In both arms, phototherapy was continued until TSB < 13 mg/dL. Primary outcome was rate of fall of bilirubin. Seventy-five infants (IPT n = 36 vs. CPT n = 39) were enrolled in the study. The rate of fall of bilirubin was significantly higher with "IPT" phototherapy (p = 0.002).
CONCLUSION: In term and late preterm infants with non-hemolytic moderate hyperbilirubinemia, intermittent phototherapy with 12 h on and 12 h off cycles is as efficacious as continuous phototherapy.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes