SERUM CALCIUM AND SERUM BILIRUBIN AFFECTED BY HEAD COVERING DURING PHOTOTHERAPY

Abstract

Background: When used for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, phototherapy has a lot of negative side effects. which hypocalcemia is barely noticeable.The fall in melatonin level brought on by phototherapy is thought to be the cause of this.We conducted a study to determine the extent to which head coverings during phototherapy affected the levels of serum calcium and bilirubin. Medthods:We treated 72 term newborns who were receiving care at the Department of Pediatrics in an observational cohort research. Two groups were created out of them. With one group receiving phototherapy while wearing a dark-colored hat, and the other group receiving it without one, Before beginning phototherapy and 48 hours after ceasing phototherapy,serum calcium and serum bilirubin were measured.The paired-t test and unpaired-t test were applied during the data analysis using SPSS software. Results:When compared to the other group with a head covering,the mean blood calcium level in the control group without a head covering was considerably lower after 48 hours of phototherapy.Hypocalcemia affects a total of 8 infants,or 22.2%.However,the study also revealed that there was no discernible difference in the two groups' reductions in serum bilirubin levels. Conclusion:Wearing a head covering will stop phototherapy-induced hypocalcemia, and it has no impact on how quickly serum bilirubin is lowered.