Intravenous immunoglobulin G therapy for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia

Background Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (NHb) results from increased total serum bilirubin and is a common reason for admission and readmission amongst newborn infants born in North America. The use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy for treating NHb has been widely debated, and the current incidence of NHb and its therapies remain unknown. Methods Using national and provincial databases, a population-based retrospective cohort study of infants born in Ontario from April 2014 to March 2018 was conducted. Results Of the 533,084 infants born in Ontario at ≥35 weeks gestation, 29,756 (5.6%) presented with NHb. Among these infants, 80.1–88.2% received phototherapy, 1.1–2.0% received IVIG therapy and 0.1–0.2% received exchange transfusion (ET) over the study period. Although phototherapy was administered (83.0%) for NHb, its use decreased from 2014 to 2018 (88.2–80.1%) ( P