Jaundice Bilirubin Threshold Calculator
Calculate Conventional Phototherapy (CPL), Intensive Phototherapy (IPL), and Exchange Transfusion (ET) thresholds based on the infant’s age, gestational age, and neurotoxicity risk factors.
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the infant’s Date and Time of Birth.
- Enter the Assessment Date and Time. The current local time is filled automatically.
- Select the Gestational Age and indicate whether any Risk Factors are present.
- The calculated age and recommended CPL, IPL and ET thresholds will update automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this calculator estimate?
It estimates bilirubin treatment thresholds for Conventional Phototherapy, Intensive Phototherapy and Exchange Transfusion based on postnatal age, gestational age and neurotoxicity risk factors.
How is the infant’s age calculated?
The calculator subtracts the birth date and time from the assessment date and time, then expresses the result in completed hours.
What happens if the infant is younger than 1 hour or older than 120 hours?
The chart calculation is limited to the available range. Ages below 1 hour are calculated using the 1-hour threshold, while ages above 120 hours are capped at the 120-hour threshold.
Which neurotoxicity risk factors are included?
Examples include isoimmune haemolytic disease, G6PD deficiency, asphyxia, sepsis, acidosis, albumin below 3.0 g/dL, or significant clinical instability within the previous 24 hours.
Can this calculator replace clinical judgement?
No. It is a clinical support tool and must be interpreted together with the infant’s examination, bilirubin trend, feeding status, haemolysis risk, local guideline and specialist advice when indicated.
References
- American Academy of Pediatrics Subcommittee on Hyperbilirubinemia. Management of hyperbilirubinemia in the newborn infant 35 or more weeks of gestation.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Jaundice in newborn babies under 28 days.
- Local neonatal jaundice and phototherapy threshold charts used in the calculator dataset.