Transcutaneous Bilirubin Accuracy Before, During, and After Phototherapy: A Meta-Analysis

Transcutaneous bilirubinometry (TcB) is used as a valid screening to identify neonates requiring measurement of total serum bilirubin (TSB) before phototherapy. Its use during and after phototherapy is not advised yet because of unknown reliability.To determine the agreement of TcB and TSB measurements before, during, and after phototherapy.PubMed Medline, Cochrane Library, and references of eligible studies were searched.Prospective and retrospective cohort and cross-sectional studies reporting Bland-Altman statistics of paired TcB and TSB measurements in term and preterm newborns.Meta-analysis was performed using the Mantel-Haenszel weighted approach. The agreement between TcB and TSB in μmol/L was described by pooled mean differences (MDs) and limits of agreement (LoA).Fifty-four studies were included. The pooled MD before phototherapy is 2.5 μmol/L (LoA -38.3 to 43.3). The pooled MD during phototherapy is -0.3 μmol/L (LoA -34.8 to 34.2) on covered skin and -28.6 μmol/L (LoA -105.7 to 48.5) on uncovered skin. The pooled MD after phototherapy is -34.3 μmol/L (LoA -86.7 to 18.1) on covered skin and -21.1 μmol/L (LoA -88.6 to 46.4) on uncovered skin. Subgroup analysis revealed the best agreement at the forehead. We did not find any difference in agreement between term and preterm neonates.Language restriction.TcB measurements before and during phototherapy on covered skin show good agreement compared with TSB in term and preterm newborns. More studies are needed to evaluate the accuracy after phototherapy.