Related Experiment Videos
[Phototherapy of newborn infants]
Insights
Phototherapy effectively treats infant jaundice by breaking down bilirubin using blue light. While generally safe, temporary side effects like diarrhea and drowsiness can occur during treatment.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Medicine
- Photochemistry
- Biochemistry
Context:
- Infant jaundice affects hundreds of thousands of newborns annually.
- Light treatment for neonatal jaundice was discovered in 1958.
- Phototherapy is a widely adopted intervention for hyperbilirubinemia.
Purpose:
- To review the mechanism, efficacy, and safety of phototherapy for neonatal jaundice.
- To elucidate the quantitative relationships in light treatment for jaundice.
- To provide guidance on the optimal use of phototherapy.
Summary:
- Phototherapy utilizes blue light to convert bilirubin into excretable isomers and oxidation products.
- Blue light is the most effective wavelength for treating jaundice.
- Intensive phototherapy can be enhanced using double light sources.
- Intermittent phototherapy has limited application.
Impact:
- Phototherapy has successfully treated millions of infants worldwide.
- No long-term adverse effects of phototherapy have been documented.
- Short-term side effects include diarrhea, drowsiness, and transient rashes.
Abstract:
The effect of light treatment on neonates with jaundice was discovered in 1958. Since then, many hundred thousand infants have been treated with light. The presumed mechanism of effect is photo-excitation of bilirubin extravascularly in the skin with the formation of bilirubin isomers which can be excreted in unconjugated form in the bile and photo-oxidation products which can be excreted in the urine. The quantitative relationships have only been partially elucidated. Blue light is the most effective. Green light causes lowering of bilirubin but, on the basis of present knowledge, there is no basis to recommend this as ye. Intermittent phototherapy has limited distribution. If intensive phototherapy is required, double light is effective. No long-term side effects of light treatment have been observed but, during treatment, side effects in the form of diarrhoea, drowsiness and transient exanthemata may occur.