Clinical profile of newborns submitted to phototherapy in a neonatal unit

Objective: To describe the clinical profile of newborns submitted to phototherapy in a neonatal reference unit. Materials and Methods: This is a longitudinal descriptive research with quantitative approach. The sample consisted of 90 newborns admitted to a neonatal unit and their respective mothers, highlighting clinical variables through information contained in the medical records. The research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Pará Foundation Hospital (ruling no. 640.197 and Certificate of Presentation for Ethical Consideration no. 28208214.0.0000.5171 from May 2014). Results: It was found that the newborns had the following characteristics: prematurity (75.8%), small for gestational age (73.3%), born via Caesarean Section (67.7%), rehospitalization for jaundice (66.7%), average of 3 days to begin Enteral Nutrition, treatment time of 6 days, beginning of phototherapy around the 3rd and 5th day of life. It was predominant in the study: primigravidae (50%), aged 19 to 30 years old (61.2%), with emphasis on the O+ group (45.5%), who attended less than 6 prenatal consultations (57%). Conclusion: Most variables are consistent with publications on the subject, however others stood out with evidence in the sample studied, pointing out peculiarities among the newborns submitted to this research.