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Systematic review finds infant massage reduces serum bilirubin and shortens hospital stay in neonates, indicating potential benefits alongside phototherapy.
Most infants are diagnosed with hyperbilirubinemia in the first day of life. Although phototherapy is the most common treatment used in hyperbilirubinemia, different alternative therapies such as massage are also used. This systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to evaluate the effect of massage on serum bilirubin levels, defecation frequency, and length of hospital stay in neonates with hyperbilirubinemia receiving phototherapy. A review of randomized controlled trials published in English from 2008 to November 2023 was conducted using PubMed-Medline, Academic Search Ultimate-EBSCOhost, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. From 217 identified trials, six randomized controlled studies were included, with a total sample of 394 term infants. Infant massage was effective in increasing defecation frequency (MD: 0.52, 95% CI: Min: 0.29– Max: 0.76, p < 0.0001), reducing serum bilirubin levels on the 3rd and 4th days (MD: −1.19, 95% CI: Min: −1.50- Max: −0.89, p < 0.0001) (MD:−2.33, 95% CI: Min: −2.88– Max: −1.79, p < 0.0001), and shortening hospital stay (MD:-13.66, 95% CI: Min: −16.74– Max: −10.59, p < 0.0001). This systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that infant massage is a safe and effective intervention for term neonates with hyperbilirubinemia, contributing to a shorter hospital stay by lowering serum bilirubin levels and increasing defecation frequency.
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Erçelik et al. (2025) studied this question.
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