Effect of Phototherapy on Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, and Body Temperature in Early Preterm Infants with Gestational Age <32 Weeks

Objective: Phototherapy is a widely used treatment for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, but the potential risks in early preterm infants are not well known.So it seems to be necessary to find out which parameters should be carefully observed during phototherapy.In this study, we analyzed blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and body temperature (BT) in preterm infants under 32 weeks of gestational age before and after phototherapy.Methods: In this study, we analyzed the medical records of 103 early preterm infants with gestational age <32 weeks and birth weight >1,000 g admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, treated with and without phototherapy, at Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, a tertiary center in Korea.Changes in BP, HR, and BT were analyzed before and after treatment.Results: A total of 91 patients taking phototherapy and 12 control subjects were enrolled.In the phototherapy group (PT group), PT was started on the second day after birth and lasted for 74 hours.In between-group analysis, HR was higher in the PT group after starting phototherapy (at 48 hours; median of differences 8 bpm, P=0.005, at 56 hours; median of differences 9 bpm, P=0.001), while there was no significant difference in BP.The rate of BP increase was lowered and HR was increased after phototherapy, in the PT group analysis.Conclusion: After starting phototherapy in preterm infants less than 32 weeks of gestational age, the increasing trend in BP was ceased and the HR was increased.