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Early prediction of serious hyperbilirubinaemia
Figure 4.1 Pooled sensitivity of serum bilirubin levels in the first 24 hours of life in predicting later
hyperbilirubinaemia
Figure 4.2 Pooled specificity of serum bilirubin levels in the first 24 hours of life in predicting later
hyperbilirubinaemia
Serum bilirubin levels should be measured every 6 hours in babies with visible or suspected
jaundice whether in treatment or not (see also GDG translation for Section 7.1.1). These
measurements should continue until the serum bilirubin level is stable and/or falling and is also
below the treatment thresholds in table 1 and treatment threshold graphs (1.5)
Recommendations
See the end of Section 4.1.
Effectiveness of transcutaneous bilirubin measurement
Description of included studies
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Four studies 43-46 have been included in this section. One retrospective study from the USA
compared the number of blood samples for bilirubin measurement, treatment with
phototherapy, length of hospital stay and readmission rates before and after implementation of
transcutaneous bilirubin measurement. The other three studies 44-46 evaluated the impact of
transcutaneous bilirubin measurement on the need for blood sampling. These three studies are
described in detail in Chapter 5 on recognition of jaundice.
Review findings
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A retrospective cohort study from the USA evaluated the impact of pre-discharge
transcutaneous bilirubin measurement on laboratory bilirubin testing and readmission rate for
hyperbilirubinaemia within 7 days of initial discharge. All healthy babies born in a tertiary
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