TOWER IN SOLIDARITY WITH PEDRO HISPANO HOSPITAL

Tower in solidarity

On April 12, the Brotherhood of Clérigos, by the hand of its President, Father Manuel Fernando, offered the Pedro Hispano Hospital a piece of equipment called a “transcutaneous bilirubinometer”, which makes it possible to screen jaundiced newborns (NB) who need blood taken for bilirubin levels.

Currently, this procedure involves puncturing the newborn’s heel with a lancet or needle and collecting blood into 2 capillary tubes. This technique involves pain for the NB and anxiety for the parents, who observe the procedure and wait for the result, which with the transcutaneous bilirubinometer is immediate, making it possible to reduce the time spent waiting for the results in order to start treatment or discharge as soon as possible.

In addition to improving the care provided, this equipment has led to a reduction in the costs currently associated with this procedure, namely compresses, gloves, needles, capillary tubes, sucrose, nursing staff time and neonatologist time to evaluate the result through centrifugation and subsequent reading by photometry.

In order to assess the impact of acquiring this device, in January 2023 the Pedro Hispano Hospital carried out an assessment of all the NB admitted to the Nursery, a total of 114. Of these, 52% had their total bilirubin assessed by heel prick and 101 blood samples were taken to assess bilirubin. Of these, 65 (64%) could have been replaced by assessment using a transcutaneous bilirubinometer, without the need for a puncture and the costs associated with this procedure. Of all the newborns admitted to the nursery, 30% required phototherapy, and a total of 40 days of phototherapy were carried out in this sector.

In addition to the Nursery sector, bilirubin assessments are also carried out on newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Pediatrics Service, the Neonatology Consultation and the Pediatric Emergency Referral Service. In all these sectors, transcutaneous bilirubinometry is used as a bilirubin screening technique, minimizing the costs associated with the traditional technique.

This donation, the result of visits to the Clérigos Tower and Museum and the generosity of its visitors, will make it possible to humanize and improve the quality of care provided to patients and their children, as well as reducing the costs associated with this procedure.

We are grateful.