Fiberoptic phototherapy is used widely throughout the USA but data comparing the efficacy of commercially available fiberoptic phototherapy systems are sparse. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to compare the efficacy of the Ohmeda Biliblanket and the Fiberoptic Medical Wallaby neonatal pad in the treatment of jaundice in infants <2500g. The decision to use phototherapy was based on standard clinical guidelines currently in use in our NICU. 28 infants were treated with the Wallaby neonatal system and 23 with the Ohmeda. The illuminated surface area of the Wallaby pad is 125cm2 and the Ohmeda pad 133.25cm2. Mean spectral irradiance in the 425-475nm range, measured over the course of the study was 18.2μw/cm2 /nm for the Wallaby and 19.9μw/cm2 /nm for the Ohmeda, and the spectral power (irradiance x surface area) was 2.28mW/nm and 2.65mW/nm respectively.

Results: Table We conclude that there are no significant differences in efficacy between the Wallaby and Ohmeda phototherapy systems when used in infants <2500g.

Table 1 No caption available.
Full size table