European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: This study was conducted to investigate the role of probiotics as an adjunct to phototherapy in the treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, with regard to reducing phototherapy's duration and accelerating the rate at which TSB (fading of jaundice) falls when used as an adjunct. Methods: This was a hospital-based prospective case control study conducted among 110 inborn neonates with unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia admitted to the NICU, Department of Paediatrics, Gandhi Medical College, and Hospital, Secunderabad, from December 2019 to May 2021 after obtaining clearance from the institutional ethics committee and written informed consent from the study participants. Results: The mean TSB at inclusion was 19.14 ± 0.89 mg/dL vs. 16.89 ± 0.92 mg/dL in the case and control groups respectively (p<0.001). The mean duration of phototherapy was 3.93±0.85 days’ vs. 5.58±1.62   days in the case and control groups respectively (p<0.001). Hence, it was statistically significant. The mean TSB at 24 hours (17.88±1.15 vs. 16.17±1.11) (p value <0.001), 48 hours (15.36±1.90 vs. 14.74±1.67) (p-value 0.069) and at discharge (10.20 ± 1.84 vs 9.86 ±1.54) (p-value 0.308) in case and control group respectively. The rate of change of TSB among two groups at different time intervals (24 hours: 1.26±0.98 vs. 0.72±0.83 (p-value 0.002), 48 hours: 7.68±1.89 vs. 6.30±1.56 (p-value <0.001), and at discharge 8.94±1.82 vs. 7.03±1.53) was statistically significant. Conclusion: Hyperbilirubinemia is a common problem in neonates. An advantage was observed in the use of probiotic (Bacillus clausii) as an adjunct to phototherapy in the management of hyperbilirubinemia.