Brief intensive phototherapy for newborns – benefits, risks, and pending questions

The study by Donneborg et al. “ Short-time intensive phototherapy of hyperbilirubinemic neonates: efficacy, bilirubin rebound and risk factors for rebound” published in this journal in February 2026 is an important addition to the literature. 1 It highlights the potential to use short-term high-intensity (65 + 39 μW/cm 2 /nm), double phototherapy (overhead neoBlue LED device , underneath BiliSoft fiberoptic blanket ) for 12 h in uncomplicated hyperbilirubinemia without increased rebound instead of conventional treatment with high intensity phototherapy from overhead alone for a longer duration. 1 These researchers were also able to delineate a subset of neonates who might not be appropriate for this protocol due to gestational age (