Efficacy of new high intensity blue light emitting diode phototherapy compared to conventional compact fluorescent tubes phototherapy for unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia in neonates- a randomised controlled trial

Objectives: To compare LED phototherapy with the standard compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) phototherapy in the management of healthy term and late pre- term neonates with non-hemolytic jaundice and to see whether it is as effective as or more effective than the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) phototherapy Methods: The protocol and study design were submitted & was approved by the institution research committee & ethics committee. New born infants born at 35 or more completed weeks of gestation who developed hyper bilirubinemia needing phototherapy within the first 7 days of life and willing for the study were enrolled after getting informed consent. Results: Out of 120 newborn babies in the study group, 60 babies were in LED group and 60 babies were in CFL group. Sexual ratio in LED (M:F) is 31:29 &CFL group is 34:26 .The mean birth weight in LED was 2.9kg and in CFL group was 3.1 kg. The mean age in hours at onset of phototherapy was 67.4hrs in LED & 70.1in CFL group and time of detection of hyperbilirubinemia was also comparable in both groups. Mean STB at beginning of phototherapy was 17.4 in LED & 17.8 in CFL and STB after 6hours were 14.7 & 15.1 in LED & CFL groups respectively. At the ends of phototherapy the STB values was 11.8 in LED and 13.4 in CFL groups and mean age of newborn at the end of phototherapy was 83 hrs and 86.1 hrs in LED & CFL groups and mean duration of phototherapy was 15hrs and 16 hrs in LED & CFL groups respectively. The failure rate of phototherapy in LED group was 3.3% while CFL group was 1.7%, which is not significant. The rate of decrease in STB at 6hrs and end of phototherapy in both groups were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Both CFL and LED phototherapy are equally effective in reducing serum total bilirubin although their properties like light intensity irradiance, zero decay of light intensity, area of body surface irradiated, which are determinants of effective phototherapy, are significantly different.