title: Treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia with repetitive oral activated charcoal as an adjunct to phototherapy.
abstract: The efficacy of multiple dose oral activated charcoal (OAC) therapy for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia was prospectively studied in 30 jaundiced newborns receiving phototherapy, randomly assigned to a study group (n = 14) or control group (n = 16). The study group received OAC before meals with a total amount of 8.5 +/- 0.85 gms (M +/- SEM). Serum bilirubin levels upon initiation of phototherapy were (M +/- SEM) 265 +/- 8 and 253 +/- 4 mumol/L respectively. After 24 hours there was no significant decrease in serum bilirubin levels in the control group (M +/- SEM = 240 +/- 8 mumol/L) but bilirubin levels of the study group decreased (M +/- SEM = 235 +/- 7 mumol/L, p < 0.02). At 48 hours serum bilirubin levels were significantly lower than baseline values in both groups. However, the decline in bilirubin levels in the study group (M +/- SEM = 56 +/- 10 mumol/L) was greater than that of the controls (M +/- SEM = 21 +/- 10 mumol/L p < 0.02). Oral activated charcoal seems to be an effective adjunct to phototherapy in the treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Hadassah University Hospital Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Amitai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Regev
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arad
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Peleg
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boehnert
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D002606:Charcoal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007567:Jaundice, Neonatal / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy*; D007700:Kinetics; D009532:Nickel / Q000097:blood; D010789:Phototherapy; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D002606:Charcoal; D009532:Nickel; D001663:Bilirubin