PHOTOTHERAPY

Objective: To compare mean duration of stay (in hours) of patients with newimprovised versus conventional methods of phototherapy among neonates with jaundice.Study Design: Randomized control trial. Period: Six months. Setting: Neonatal ward,Department of Paediatric Medicine, Lahore General Hospital, Lahore. Subjects and Methods:160 patients, with the help of random number table, all the patients were randomly dividedinto 2 groups A and B, after getting the informed consent from their parents. Group A patientsreceived conventional phototherapy. Group B patients received phototherapy with reflectingmirrors placed beneath and at the side of the patient in baby’s cot (new improvised methodof phototherapy). Results: In this study the mean age of patients in group-A and group-Bwas 2.70±1.13 days and 2.12±1.98 days respectively. In group-A there were 47 (58.75%)male and 33 (41.25%) female patients while in group-B there were 51 (63.75%) male and 29(36.25%) female patients. According to hospital stay, the mean hospital stay in group A was39.76±11.80 hours and in group-B it was 44.90±14.21 hours, the mean hospital stay wasstatistically significant (p<0.001) Conclusion: Shorter mean duration of stay (in hours) wasrecorded in patients treated with new improvised as compared to conventional methods ofphototherapy among neonates with jaundice, the data is primary in our country, this techniquemay be used further but after some more trials to confirm its efficacy regarding shorter durationof hospital stay