A Comparison Between Transcutaneous Bilirubin and Total Serum Bilirubin Levels for the Management of Jaundice in Preterm Neonates by Bland-Altman Plot

Objective To compare the bilirubin levels measured by transcutaneous bilirubinometer and serum samples for the management of jaundice in preterm neonates. Methods The study was a prospective comparative observational study conducted in a tertiary care neonatal unit of Odisha from January 2019 to June 2020. All inborn and outborn neonates with a gestational age of 28(0/7) weeks to 36(6/7) weeks with the clinical diagnosis of neonatal jaundice were included in the study. Transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) was estimated by Dragger jaundice meter JM-105 and simultaneously venous blood and total serum bilirubin levels (TSB) were measured by diazonium method. The comparison between TcB and TSB values was analyzed by direct linear correlation in scatter plot and Bland-Altman plot. Results A total of 167 preterm neonates (66, 28-33(6/7 )and 111, 34-36(6/7)), with a mean gestational age 33.55 ±2.36 weeks and a mean birth weight of 1960 ± 613 grams, were analyzed. The mean TSB and TcB levels were 12.99 ± 3.47 mg/dl (min-max 4.9-18.3 mg/dl) and 14.156 ± 4.71 mg/dl (min-max 4-20.1 mg/dL), respectively. The TcB is excellently correlated with TSB with a correlation coefficient of r =0.948, p ≤0.001. The bias difference between TcB and TSB is -1.16 (95% CI: 2.35, -4.6) mg/dl. The correlation coefficients between 28-33(6/7) weeks gestational age groups (r = 0.944) and 34-36(6/7)gestational age (r = 0.950) were similar. Conclusion TcB is well correlated with TSB level in preterm neonates. Hence, TcB can be used for the guidance of management in these neonates.