Background: Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is one of the most common newborn
entities. phototherapy has been the therapy of choice for neonates suffering from
indirect hyperbilirubinemia. One of the consequences of phototherapy is
hypocalcaemia and hypomagnesaemia. Phototherapy leads to inhibition of pineal
gland by transcranial illumination resulting in a decline in melatonin level which leads
to increased calcium absorption by bones.
Patients and Methods : The present study was conducted on 50 full-term
jaundiced neonates (23 males &27females) received phototherapy for treatment of
neonatal indirect hyperbilirubinemia. Cases were selected from those admitted to
NICU of Benha University hospital. serum calcium, serum magnesium were
measured in their blood samples before phototherapy and after 48 hours and at the end
of phototherapy. Data were fed to the computer and analyzed using IBM SPSS
software package version 20.0.
Results: In our study hypocalcemia was assessed as a complication of phototherapy
±in newborns managed for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia as mean calcium was 8.63
1.64 Post phototherapy. The difference was as ±1.54 Pre phototherapy and was 8.22
statistically significant (p