Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Clinical Pediatrics
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hansen, T. W. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hansen, T. W. R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Therapeutic Approaches to Neonatal Jaundice: An International Survey

Thor Willy Ruud Hansen

Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, Department of Pediatrics, University of Oslo, Rikshospitalet (The National Hospital), Oslo, Norway

Jaundice is one of the most common clinical phenomena in the neonatal period and a frequent indication for treatment with phototherapy, exchange transfusion, or drugs. The present study documents the variability in approaches to the treatment of this condition. A mail questionnaire was sent to neonatal units worldwide. One hundred and eight answers (49% response rate) were received from Europe (n=72), North America (n=28), Africa (n=7), and Asia (n=1). The neonatal intensive care units represented by the respondents had 31 ±18 beds [mean ±SD], and 638 ±519 admissions per year. All units offered phototherapy, 106/ 108 performed exchange transfusions, while 44/ 108 used some form of drug therapy. There was considerable variability among the units in their approaches to the jaundiced neonate. This applied to all aspects of care, including type of phototherapy lights used, practical implementation of phototherapy, use of fluid supplementation, and use of prophylactic phototherapy. The majority used written protocols for investigation and treatment of neonatal jaundice and would let their decision on whether to treat be influenced by the infant's clinical state. There was great variability between units in the level of serum bilirubin that would trigger therapy. This applied across weight groups and to phototherapy as well as exchange transfusion. The significant heterogeneity in our approach to the treatment of jaundiced neonates suggests that our understanding of the biology of neonatal jaundice is inadequate and that further research will be necessary in order to provide a more solid biological foundation for therapy.

Clinical Pediatrics, Vol. 35, No. 6, 309-316 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/000992289603500604
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 NEJMHome page
M. J. Maisels and A. F. McDonagh
Phototherapy for Neonatal Jaundice
N. Engl. J. Med., February 28, 2008; 358(9): 920 - 928.
[Full Text] [PDF]