Can transcutaneous bilirubin levels obtained from covered skin replace serum bilirubin measurement in neonates undergoing phototherapy?

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Correlation between TSB values and TcB values measured from covered and exposed skin

	Before PT ICC (95% CI)	After 24 h of PT ICC (95% CI)	8 h after PT ICC (95% CI)
TSB vs. exposed skin TcB	0.667 (0.513–0.780)	0.229 (0.092–0.544)	0.432 (0.200–0.613)
TSB vs. covered skin TcB	0.665 (0.508–0.778)	0.520 (0.326–0.672)	0.537 (0.339–0.687)
Exposed vs. covered skin TcB	0.828 (0.737–0.890)	<0.245 (0.095–0.542)	0.557 (0.056–0.784)

Epidemiological characteristics of the neonates receiving PT for hyperbilirubinemia

Characteristics		N (%)
Gestational age (weeks), median (range)	38 (31–42)
Birth weight (g), mean ± SD	3020 ± 556
Sex
Female		36 (51.4)
Male		34 (48.6)
Maternal age (years), mean ± SD	26.3 ± 5.7
Maternal disease status
Yes		8 (11.4)
No		60 (88.6)
Mode of delivery
NSVD		51 (72.9)
C/S		19 (27.1)
Age at admission (days), median (range)	2 (1–13)
Length of stay (days), median (range)	3 (2–27)
Blood incompatibility
None		25 (35.8)
ABO incompatibility		41 (58.6)
Rh incompatibility		3 (4.2)
ABO + Rh incompatibility		1 (1.4)
DC test
Negative		47 (67.2)
Positive		23 (32.8)
Pathological weight loss
Yes		10 (14.3)
No		60 (85.7)
Cephalic hematoma
Yes		2 (2.9)
No		68 (97.1)

Comparison of TSB and TcB levels from covered and exposed skin measured before, during, and after PT

	Mean ± SD
	Before PT	At 24th hour of PT	8 h after discontinuation of PT
TSB	11.91 ± 4.48	7.67 ± 2.34	7.90 ± 2.09
Covered skin TcB	11.11 ± 3.01	7.07 ± 2.25	8.61 ± 2.39
Exposed skin TcB	11.14 ± 3.11	4.13 ± 1.88	6.85 ± 2.44