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How to use: transcutaneous bilirubinometry
  1. Matthew C O'Connor1,
  2. Meredith A Lease2,
  3. Bonny L Whalen3
  1. 1Department of Pediatrics, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
  2. 2Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
  3. 3Department of Pediatrics, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, 1 Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Bonny L. Whalen, Department of Pediatrics, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, 1 Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA; Bonny.L.Whalen{at}hitchcock.org

Abstract

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence neonatal jaundice guidelines recommend checking the bilirubin level in all infants with visible jaundice. The gold standard for this measurement is total serum bilirubin (TSB). Transcutaneous bilirubinometry (TcB) is an alternative to TSB that has been validated for clinical use through extensive study. TcB provides many advantages over TSB including instantaneous measurements without requiring a painful lab draw. For infants >35 weeks gestation, TcB can reliably identify infants at risk for severe hyperbilirubinaemia and can decrease the number of TSB measurements obtained. However, paediatric providers should be aware of limitations in clinical use of TcB including decreasing accuracy at higher bilirubin levels, lack of independently validated nomograms for interpretation and limited research regarding its use during phototherapy.

  • Jaundice
  • Paediatric Practice

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