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Intense phototherapy treatment for newborns:
monitor temperature closely and often

A child died from excessive heat in a phototherapy device. This death could have been avoided by close monitoring of the infant's temperature.

The classic very severe treatment for neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia (serous jaundice) is a blood exchange transfusion. An alternative consists of placing the infant in a phototherapy device where the ultraviolet rays break down the bilirubin into non-toxic products.

During phototherapy treatment the newborn is exposed to a risk of hyperthermia. With a device where the infant is entirely surrounded by ultraviolet tubes, exposure can be massive. Tragically, in 2006, in France, an infant died in such a device, which had no temperature regulator or overheating alarm.

If the devices have no temperature regulator or overheating alarm, the only valid precaution is close and frequent monitoring of the infant's temperature, not only by the nursing staff but also by the parents.

©Prescrire July 2006

Source: "Photothérapie intensive : un décès évitable" Rev Prescrire 2006 ; 26 (273) : 426.

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