Abdominal Massage for Newborn Jaundice

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether infant abdominal massage can help reduce bilirubin levels and improve bilirubin elimination in healthy full-term newborns. The study will include 84 newborns born at 37 weeks of gestation or later, with a birth weight of at least 2,500 grams, stable vital signs, and no major health problems.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does abdominal massage reduce transcutaneous bilirubin levels during the first 120 hours after birth? Does abdominal massage increase bowel movements or promote earlier passage of meconium? Does abdominal massage reduce the need for phototherapy, the duration of phototherapy, or the length of hospital stay? Is abdominal massage safe and feasible for full-term newborns? Researchers will compare newborns who receive routine newborn care plus abdominal massage with newborns who receive routine newborn care alone to determine whether abdominal massage improves bilirubin-related and clinical outcomes.

Participants will:

Be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either the abdominal massage group or the routine-care group.

Receive routine newborn care, including feeding support, jaundice observation, bilirubin measurement, and phototherapy when clinically indicated.

In the intervention group, receive gentle abdominal massage for 10 to 15 minutes twice daily during hospitalization for 2 to 5 days. Massage will begin at least 1 hour after feeding while the newborn is awake, calm, and medically stable.

Have transcutaneous bilirubin measured at 0-6, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours after birth. A blood bilirubin test may be performed if the transcutaneous bilirubin level approaches the treatment threshold.

Have information recorded about bowel movements, time of first bowel movement, feeding, diaper use, body weight, phototherapy, length of hospital stay, and any adverse events.

Be followed through medical records for 7 days after discharge to determine whether the newborn returns for evaluation or is readmitted because of jaundice.

Conditions

• Neonatal Jaundice

Interventions

OTHER

Infant Abdominal Massage

Infant abdominal massage will be performed by trained nurses twice daily for 10 to 15 minutes per session during hospitalization for 2 to 5 days. The massage will begin at least 1 hour after feeding while the newborn is awake, calm, and clinically stable. The standardized procedure includes gentle clockwise circular massage over the abdomen following the direction of intestinal movement, gentle flexion of the knees toward the abdomen 3 to 5 times, and light circular massage of the lower abdomen and groin area from right to left. The unhealed umbilical area will be avoided, and excessive pressure over the liver and spleen will not be applied. The newborn's skin color, respiratory pattern, crying, abdominal distension, vomiting, and vital signs will be monitored before, during, and after each session. Massage will be stopped immediately if any sign of discomfort or clinical instability occurs.

OTHER

Routine Newborn Care

Newborns assigned to this intervention will receive routine newborn care according to the hospital's standard clinical procedures. Care will include feeding support, clinical observation for jaundice, transcutaneous bilirubin measurement at scheduled time points, serum bilirubin measurement when clinically indicated, monitoring of body weight, feeding, urine output, and bowel movements, phototherapy when treatment criteria are met, and routine discharge education. No abdominal massage will be provided to newborns assigned to the routine care group during the study period.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Taichung Veterans General Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Yueh-Chu Peng

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Yueh-Chu Peng, PhD, RN · Taichung Veterans General Hospital

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

0 Days

Max Age

1 Day

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-08-05

Primary Completion

2027-12-31

Completion

2027-12-31

Countries

• Taiwan

Study Locations