The effects of shielding the hepatic area on the clinical response to phototherapy.

The changes in serum bilirubin concentration in response to phototherapy were studied in 26 infants with and without an opaque patch on the liver area. Fifteen infants in the patched group were treated at a mean age of 50.7 h, and 11 control infants at 49.1 h. No significant differences were demonstrated between the two groups in duration of phototherapy, peak bilirubin concentration and rates of bilirubin decrement. Shielding the hepatic area during illumination does not alter the clinical response to phototherapy which suggests that the main site of action of phototherapy is in the skin.