Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 7;14(4):e23938.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.23938. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Effect of Light-Emitting Diode Phototherapy on Serum Calcium Levels in Neonates With Jaundice

Karthikeyan Panneerselvam  1 , Sathyamoorthy Mani  1 , Nandini Vasudevan  1 , Preethi S  2 , Nedunchelian Krishnamoorthy  3 , Pratibha Rk  1 , Subash Sundar  1
Affiliations

Effect of Light-Emitting Diode Phototherapy on Serum Calcium Levels in Neonates With Jaundice

Karthikeyan Panneerselvam et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background: To assess the change in serum total calcium levels during light-emitting diode phototherapy treatment for jaundice in term neonates.

Methods: A prospective observational study was done on 104 term neonates with hyperbilirubinemia in a tertiary care center to investigate the effects of phototherapy using a light-emitting diode device. The total serum bilirubin along with total calcium levels was measured at the start and at the end of phototherapy. Additionally, all the newborns enrolled in the study were evaluated for hypocalcaemia-related symptoms such as jitteriness, irritability/excitability, lethargy, and convulsions.

Results: A significant lowering of posttreatment total calcium level compared to that of pretreatment level (p<0.001) was found in our study. Hypocalcemia (serum calcium <8 mg/dL in term neonates) was found in 12.5% of the study subjects.

Conclusions: In the treatment of neonatal jaundice, similar to conventional blue and white light phototherapy, light-emitting diode phototherapy also has hypocalcemia as an adverse effect. We recommend monitoring these babies for hypocalcemia during light-emitting diode phototherapy.

Keywords: hyperbilirubinemia; hypocalcemia; light emitting diode; phototherapy; term neonates.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distribution of serum calcium prior to and at the end of phototherapy with respect to gender (N=104)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kliegman RM. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 20th ed. Philadephia: Elsevier; 2015. Jaundice and hyperbilirubinemia in the newborn; pp. 871–875.
    1. Management of hyperbilirubinemia in the newborn infant 35 or more weeks of gestation. Pediatrics. 2004;114:297–316. - PubMed
    1. Phototherapy induced hypocalcemia in neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Singh PK, Chaudhuri PK, Chaudhary AK. IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences. 2017;16:35–38.
    1. Clinical approach to hypocalcemia in newborn period and infancy: who should be treated? Vuralli D. Int J Pediatr. 2019;2019:4318075. - PMC - PubMed
    1. The effect of hat on phototherapy-induced hypocalcemia in jaundiced full-term neonates. Ezzeldin Z, Mansi Y, Abdelhamid TA, Sabry M. Research and Reports in Neonatology. 2015;5:73–78.

LinkOut - more resources