A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Currently few studies have investigated the accuracy of using transcutaneous bilirubinometry after phototherapy especially in the outpatient setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of transcutaneous bilirubin measurements (TCB) after phototherapy for neonates with jaundice. At the Maricopa Integrated Health System, neonates who undergo phototherapy for hyperbilirubinemia come in for outpatient follow‐up at the Comprehensive Health Center following their discharge. For those neonates, current protocol calls for serum bilirubin (TSB) to be measured to properly monitor bilirubin levels, however transcutaneous measurements were made and recorded as well. In this study, we compared the values of total serum bilirubin and transcutaneous bilirubin in jaundiced neonates who underwent phototherapy. From October 2013‐April 2015, a total 67 healthy infants were seen in the Pediatric Clinic who had received phototherapy in our hospital, only 36 (54%) of those met minimum data criteria to be included in the study. The absolute difference between mean serum bilirubin and transcutaneous bilirubinometry in healthy outpatient newborns who received inpatient phototherapy was 0.4 and is clinically insignificant. The average time from hospital discharge to return to clinic was 47 hours. We conclude that for the outpatient physician, transcutaneous bilirubinometry can be used following phototherapy, which facilitates faster, more convenient, and painless follow‐up visits.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/623470 |
| Date | 10 May 2017 |
| Creators | Makarova, Natasha |
| Contributors | The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix, McMahon, Shawn MD, MPH |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the College of Medicine - Phoenix, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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